Aims to “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy”.
Let's learn a little more about SDG 7.
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Targets
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Campaigns
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Pledges
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Actions Taken
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Reading Material
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Quiz
Since access to clean energy is a necessity of modern-day life, scaling up of renewable energy, such as solar, wind and thermal energy should be at the heart of combatting the looming climate crisis and for achieving the targets under SDG 7.
For many decades, fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas have been major sources of electricity production, but burning carbon fuels 789 million people around the world lack access to electricity produces large amounts of greenhouse gases which cause climate change and have harmful impacts on people’s well-being and the environment. This affects everyone, not just a few.
Moreover, global electricity use is rising rapidly. In a nutshell, without a stable electricity supply, countries will not be able to power their economies.
A well-established energy system supports every sector, starting from business, medicine, education to agriculture, infrastructure, communications and high-technology. Energy services are also key to preventing disease and fighting pandemics such as COVID-19, because they power healthcare facilities, supply clean water for essential hygiene, enable communications and IT services that connect people, while maintaining physical distance.
Without electricity, women and girls have to spend hours fetching water, clinics cannot store vaccines for children, many schoolchildren cannot do homework at night, and people cannot run competitive businesses. Slow progress towards clean cooking solutions is of grave global concern, affecting both human health and the environment, and if we don’t meet our goal by 2030, nearly a third of the world’s population – mostly women and children – will continue to be exposed to harmful household air pollution.
President Ikeda has continued to highlight the need for renewable energy and energy conservation to reduce our environmental footprint in his various writings, while envisioning a ‘new energy future’.
Expanding on the goal of sustainable energy for all, President Ikeda calls out the need for humanitarian competition, defined as actions that "benefit and serve the interests of others while profiting oneself" and "benefit and serve the interests of the future while profiting the present" in his 2012 Environment Proposal. In the context of countries collaborating on technological innovation to introduce renewable energy sources and also helping introduce them in developing countries struggling with this issue, he says: “If states with records of achievement in this field could engage in positive competition to contribute to the diffusion of these technologies, it would help establish the infrastructure by which societies struggling with poverty can protect the lives, livelihoods and dignity of their people without increasing the burden on the environment. This would in turn greatly reduce the demands placed on the global ecosphere going into the future.”
13 percent of the global population still lacks access to modern electricity.
3 billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating.
Energy is the dominant contributor to climate change, accounting for around 60 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions.
Indoor air pollution from using combustible fuels for household energy caused 4.3 million deaths in 2012, with women and girls accounting for 6 out of every 10 of these.
One-third of the world’s population (2.6 billion people) use dangerous and inefficient cooking systems (2019).
In 2016, the share of renewables increased at the fastest rate since 2012, up 0.24 percentage points, and reached almost 17.5 percent owing to rapid growth in hydropower, wind, and solar.
By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services.
By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology.
By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support.
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Here is a quiz to help deepen the understanding of why it is important to preserve the ozone layer.
Let us take a quiz and learn more about SDG 7 i.e. Affordable & Clean Energy.
Take this fun quiz to test your knowledge about the SDGs.
