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Global energy access gap persists as 2.3b persons rely on harmful cooking fuels

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam
06 June 2023   |   4:01 am
A fresh report released yesterday by International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), World Bank and World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 for energy by 2030.

A woman cooking with firewood

A fresh report released yesterday by International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), World Bank and World Health Organisation (WHO) has said the world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 for energy by 2030.

According to the 2023 edition of Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress report, 567 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, did not have access to electricity in 2021, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the global population without access. The deficit in the region stayed almost the same as in 2010.

The world remains off track to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. Up to 2.3 billion people still use polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, largely in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The use of traditional biomass also means households spend up to 40 hours weekly gathering firewood and cooking, which prohibits women from pursuing employment or participating in local decision-making bodies and children from going to school

These gaps would negatively impact the health of the most vulnerable populations and accelerate climate change.

According to WHO, 3.2 million people die every year from illness caused by use of polluting fuels and technologies, which increases exposure to toxic levels of air pollution.

Executive Director, IEA, Fatih Birol said: “The energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have a profound impact on people all around the world. High energy prices have hit the most vulnerable hard, particularly those in developing economies. While the clean energy transition is moving faster than many think, there is still a great deal of work needed to deliver sustainable, secure and affordable access to modern energy services for the billions of people, who live without it. Successful energy transitions rely on effective policies and technological innovation combined with large-scale mobilisation of investment capital. The international community must leverage all these tools to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by the end of this decade.”

WHO Director-General, World Health Organisation, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted: “We must protect the next generation by acting now.  Investing in clean and renewable solutions to support universal energy access is how we can make real change.  Clean cooking technologies in homes and reliable electricity in healthcare facilities can play a crucial role in protecting the health of our most vulnerable populations.”

This year marks the halfway point for achieving SDGs by 2030. SDG 7 is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy. The goal includes reaching universal access to electricity and clean cooking, doubling historic levels of efficiency improvements, and substantially increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix. Attaining this goal would have a deep impact on people’s health and well-being, helping to protect them from environmental and social risks such as air pollution, and expanding access to primary healthcare and services.

While there has been some progress on specific elements of the SDG 7 agenda – for example, the increased rate of using renewables in the power sector – the progress is, however, insufficient to actualise the target.

The global energy crisis is expected to stimulate deployment of renewables and improve energy efficiency with several government policies pointing to increasing investment. However, IRENA estimates show that international public financial flows in support of clean energy in low- and middle-income countries have been decreasing since the COVID-19 pandemic and funding is limited to a small number of countries.

To meet SDG 7 targets and to ensure that people fully benefit from the socio-economic gains of the shift to sustainable energy, it is necessary to structurally reform international public finance and define new opportunities to unlock investments.

The report also found that mounting debt and rising energy prices were worsening the outlook for reaching universal access to clean cooking and electricity. Current projections estimate that 1.9 billion people will be without clean cooking and 660 million without electricity access in 2030 if no concrete action is taken.

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