From Center for Strategic and International Studies:

Please join CSIS on February 23 for a discussion on Sustainable Development Goal #7: Affordable and Clean Energy which aims to improve access to affordable, modern, and reliable energy, energy efficiency, and investments in energy infrastructure.

According to the International Energy Agency, global electricity demand is estimated to jump 4% this year alone. The share of the global population with access to reliable and modern electricity differs greatly across continents. According to the World Bank, less than half (46.75%) of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa has access to electricity. In many parts of the developing world, energy supply can sometimes be unreliable and costly. The necessary infrastructure to support an efficient energy grid can be expensive, and countries may lack the political will or public funds to invest in such projects. Inefficient energy sources can stymie economic growth and disrupt daily life. Global energy efficiency, for example, can be improved to increase the rate of reliable energy consumption. Scaling up renewable energy sources as part of the global energy mix and increasing the financial flows for cleaner, low-carbon energy sources in the developing world will also be necessary to make progress on SDG #7.

There is good news—the number of people without access to electricity fell from 1.2 billion globally in 2010 to 759 million in 2019. Despite this encouraging progress, Covid-19 has worsened some of the important electricity gains made in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of reliable and accessible electricity sources, particularly with the delivery of vaccines, ultracold storage, and broader healthcare infrastructure. The most recent SDG #7 report noted that the world is currently not on track to achieve SDG #7, making it especially difficult to reach its ambitious targets by the deadline of 2030 without significant global action and coordination. This event will explore how global stakeholders can accelerate progress on SDG #7 and the types of investment and coordination efforts necessary to sustainably meet growing global energy demand and increase overall accessibility.

Register here: https://csis.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N0c0-60iSKGRFHOhFs19Jw

This event is made possible by generous support from Chevron.