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Add to Preferred SourcesThe COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to push up to 150 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, a climate emergency is already upon us and we need urgent action to curb climate change.
Affordable and clean energy for all can help us solve these global crises.
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) has launched a new, year-long campaign called Be Bold to drive ambitious action towards Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which calls for affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030.
SEforALL launched the campaign recognizing that 2021 is a pivotal year for the clean energy transition given the need for COVID-19 recovery and with two major opportunities for change happening later this year: the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy and COP26.
Be Bold is about giving everyone – governments, businesses, development and financial institutions, and everyday citizens – a set of actions to help realize affordable and clean energy for all.
This “whole of the world” approach is itself bold. By broadening the SDG7 movement, the campaign strives to bring previously unheard voices into the discussion around energy as the foundation for achieving other global goals, including the other SDGs and the Paris Agreement targets. A clean energy transition that ensures sufficient access to energy for all is essential to economic recovery from COVID-19 and net-zero by 2050.
Be Bold asks citizens who support the clean energy transition to become members of the SDG7 movement. These members will be engaged throughout the year with the shareable, digital content they can use to attract others to the movement, building a critical mass of SDG7 supporters that will help advocate for action from decision-makers.
Importantly, Be Bold will promote the same actions sought by the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy. Specifically, Be Bold will call on businesses, governments, and other organizations to make commitments through Dialogue’s Energy Compacts. These Energy Compacts will specify SDG7-related commitments and actions and account for their impact on other SDGs and Nationally Determined Contributions towards achieving the Paris Agreement.
“During such a critical year for the energy transition, we need bold action to ensure we leave no one behind. From powering health clinics to creating new jobs, energy is at the heart of a prosperous future for all,” said Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy.
“The Be Bold campaign highlights the critical role that access to clean and affordable energy plays in achieving climate action and other global goals. The campaign will attract global citizens, companies, development institutions, governments, and many others to become part of the SDG7 movement, whose collective voice will help raise ambition and secure new commitments for the High-level Dialogue on Energy and COP26.”
Be Bold kicked off on 16 March with a 24-hour digital launch, with videos from SDG7 supporters around the world streamed online throughout the day.