Ensuring Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All

Access to energy sources is crucial for all the major problems of the modern world — jobs or security, climate change, food production or increased income. Sustainable energy is essential to strengthen economies, protect ecosystems and achieve social justice.

Every fifth inhabitant of the Earth does not have access to electricity. Most of these people live in roughly 12 countries in Africa and Asia. Under such conditions, women and girls are forced to spend a lot of time fetching water for household needs, vaccines cannot be stored in clinics, schoolchildren cannot do their homework at night, and entrepreneurs cannot be competitive. Moreover, 2.8 billion people use wood, charcoal, manure and coal for cooking and heating, which results in more than 4 million deaths each year due to indoor air pollution.

SDG 7 aims to address energy poverty, energy affordability issue, and ensure sustainable energy development. Fossil fuels, the most common source of energy, emit carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide, which can have a very negative impact on our environment and exacerbate climate change. To achieve this goal, all countries of the world need to triple their annual investment in sustainable energy infrastructure from the current level.