AFFORDABLE ENERGY
Ensuring access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is fundamental to human wellbeing, economic development and poverty alleviation.
Sustainable energy is one of 17 Global Goals that make up the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. An integrated approach is crucial for progress across the multiple goals.
Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people with access to electricity has increased by 1.7 billion, and as the global population continues to rise so will the demand for cheap energy. A global economy reliant on fossil fuels and the increase of greenhouse gas emissions is creating drastic changes to our climate system. This is having a visible impact on every continent.
One in five people in the world lack access to electricity, and 80% the countries with the largest energy deficit are in Africa.
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. The health and well-being of some 3 billion people are adversely impacted by the lack of clean cooking fuels, such as wood, charcoal, dung and coal, which causes indoor air pollution.
For many decades, fossil fuels such as coal, oil or gas have been major sources of electricity production, but burning carbon fuels 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, moreover, the global demand of energy is rising rapidly. In a nutshell, without a stable electricity supply, countries will not be able to power their economies.
Our everyday lives depend on reliable and affordable energy services to function smoothly and to develop equitably.
A well-established energy system supports all sectors: from businesses, medicine and education to agriculture, infrastructure, communications and high-technology. Conversely, lack of access to energy supplies and transformation systems is a constraint to human and economic development.
Ensuring universal access to affordable electricity by 2030 means also investing in a transition to clean energy sources such as solar, wind, hydrogen and thermal. Adopting cost-effective standards for a wider range of technologies could also reduce the global electricity consumption by buildings and industry. This means avoiding roughly 1.300 mid-size power plants. Expanding infrastructure and upgrading technology to provide clean energy sources in all developing countries is a crucial goal that can both encourage growth and help the environment.
Affordable energy in a global crisis
Lack of access to energy may hamper efforts to contain COVID-19 across many parts of the world. Energy services are key to preventing disease and fighting pandemics – from powering healthcare facilities and supplying clean water for essential hygiene, to enabling communications and IT services that connect people while maintaining social distancing.
840 million people – predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa – are living without access to electricity, and hundreds of millions more only have access to very limited or unreliable electricity. It is estimated that only 28% of health facilities have access to reliable electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, yet energy is critically needed to keep people connected at home and to run life-saving equipment in hospitals.
If hospitals and local communities don’t have access to power, this could magnify the human catastrophe and significantly slow the global recovery.
