Ensuring Access for All: The Path Forward to Universal Sustainable Energy

Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7): Affordable and Clean Energy calls for universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy. The United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All—now extended to 2030—has provided a global framework to accelerate progress toward this goal. Yet, with only five years remaining, progress remains uneven and off track.

Global Progress and Challenges

Global access to electricity reached 92 per cent in 2023, with major gains in Central and Southern Asia. However, 666 million people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, still live without power, and population growth continues to offset improvements. Clean cooking access remains an even greater challenge. While 74 per cent of people now have access to clean fuels and technologies, 2.1 billion still rely on polluting sources such as wood, charcoal, and kerosene.

Renewable energy has expanded rapidly, driven by record investments and falling costs. More than 585 gigawatts of renewable capacity were installed globally in 2024, and over 90 per cent of new projects produced electricity cheaper than fossil fuels. Renewables now account for nearly 30 per cent of global electricity consumption, creating more than 16 million jobs. Yet renewables still represent less than a fifth of total final energy consumption, underscoring the urgent need to triple capacity by 2030.

Efficiency, Finance, and Regional Gaps

Energy efficiency is improving but not fast enough. Global energy intensity fell by 2.1 per cent in 2022, but meeting SDG target 7.3 requires a 4 per cent annual improvement. Gains were strongest in Oceania and Europe, while progress lagged in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia. Efficiency advances remain critical to stabilizing demand and reducing emissions alongside clean energy expansion.

Regional disparities persist. Electrification in Africa has risen from 25 to 55 per cent since 2010, yet 600 million people still lack electricity and 900 million lack clean cooking. Asia and the Pacific achieved near-universal electrification but uneven progress in efficiency and renewables remains. In Latin America and the Caribbean, renewables make up 60 per cent of installed capacity, mainly hydropower, while fossil fuels still dominate total consumption. The Arab region has expanded electrification but remains fossil-fuel dependent, and in Europe, strong efficiency gains coexist with social and cost barriers to deeper transformation.

Public financial flows also remain uneven, with most increase in funding concentrated in middle-income economies, while least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing states together only received a fraction of these funds.

The Path Forward

A just, inclusive, and clean energy transition offers immense opportunities for growth, jobs, and climate resilience. Scaling up finance, building local capacity, and ensuring gender equality in the energy workforce are essential to realizing those benefits. Universal access to modern energy, especially electricity and clean cooking, remains central to improving health, education, and livelihoods, and to advancing sustainable development.

The Secretary-General’s report on “Ensuring Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All” (A/80/374) underscores that the energy transition must be accelerated through global cooperation, scaled-up investment, and strong political will. The extension of the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All to 2030 offers a vital opportunity to turn ambition into action, ensure no one is left behind, and deliver on the promise of SDG 7.

Read the full report here.