The SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) custodian agencies have launched their annual progress report warning of a worsening global energy gap. The report reveals that 685 million people were without access to electricity in 2022 – 10 million more than in 2021. This is the first time the number of people without access to electricity increased in over a decade.

The Energy Progress Report 2024 attributes the drop in energy access to a combination of factors, including population growth at rates higher than those of new electricity connections – particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the global energy crisis, inflation, growing debt distress in many low-income countries (LICs), and increased geopolitical tensions. At the same time, it highlights “promising” trends in the rollout of renewable energy solutions that help accelerate progress, especially in rural areas.

The report also finds that 2.1 billion people still have no access to clean cooking fuels and technologies – a number that remained largely unchanged from 2021 to 2022, with major implications for health, gender equality, and the environment, including 3.2 million premature deaths each year. Acknowledging growing political momentum within the Group of 7 (G7) and the Group of 20 (G20), along with new financial commitments made at the Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa, the report flags that efforts remain insufficient to reach universal access to electricity and clean cooking by 2030.

The world has done better on other targets of SDG 7, according to the report. Key findings include:

• Renewable electricity consumption grew more than 6% year-on-year in 2021, with the share of renewables in global electricity consumption reaching 28.2%.
• Installed renewable energy generating capacity reached a record high of 424 watts per capita globally in 2022.
• The rate of energy intensity improvement increased to 0.8% in 2021 compared with 0.6% in 2020, which is still well below the 2.6% set out in SDG target 7.3.
• International public financial flows towards clean energy in developing countries reached USD 15.4 billion in 2022 – 25% more than in 2021, but still significantly short of the 2016 peak of USD 28.5 billion.

The report warns that the rate of progress is insufficient to reach the targets of SDG 7 by 2030. It finds that under current policies, 660 million people will lack energy access and around 1.8 billion will be without access to clean cooking technologies and fuels.

The report was developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UN Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and World Health Organization (WHO). It was formally launched on 15 July, at an event in the margins of the 2024 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). The event was co-hosted by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of Sustainable Energy – Denmark, Ethiopia, Norway, and Pakistan – in partnership with the five organizations that jointly produce the annual report. [Publication: Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2024] [Executive Summary] [Publication Landing Page] [UN Press Release] [IEA Press Release] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Energy Progress Report 2023]