A new report from the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank and the World Health Organization shed light on the current panorama.
On a global scale, the situation, instead of improving, worsened: in 2022 the number of inhabitants without electricity grew for the first time in more than a decade, says the study released the day before.
At least 685 million people lacked access, 10 million more than in 2021, and the decline in sub-Saharan African territories meant an increase in the deficit compared to 2010 levels, the analysis exemplifies.
According to the diagnosis, the global gap in energy access continued to rise as population growth outpaced new connections, while 2.1 billion individuals continued to depend on harmful fuels for cooking.
If the observed trend continues, it is unlikely that Sustainable Development Goal number seven (SDG 7) will be achieved, which established the commitment to guarantee access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030, the research warns.
The goal includes achieving universal access to electricity and clean cooking, doubling historical levels of efficiency improvements, and substantially increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
Its achievement would have a profound 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 health care and health services, the text states.
However, ongoing efforts are not enough to achieve SDG 7 on time, even if there is some progress on specific elements, including increasing the rate of deployment of renewable energy in the electricity sector.
In the opinion of the sources, the main adverse factors have been the global energy crisis, inflation, the growing indebtedness of many low-income countries and the increase in geopolitical tensions.
The joint report calls for “immediate concrete actions,” especially to address the large disparity in clean energy investment, as 80 percent remained concentrated in just 25 countries.
With current policies, in 2030 there will still be 660 million people without electricity and around 1.8 billion without access to clean technologies and fuels for cooking, the document summarizes.
ef/mem/mjm
