The latest edition of the yearly inter-agency publication ‘Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report’, featuring data from 2023 and 2024, shows that while most regions are nearing universal energy access, progress in sub-Saharan Africa has slowed significantly, and the pace of electrification must triple to achieve universal access by 2030.
According to the report, 560-million people in the region are without electricity and 970-million lack access to clean cooking.
However, despite these challenges, the report also highlights encouraging progress in several areas of sustainable energy.
Renewable energy continued its strong expansion, accounting for over 30% of global electricity consumption; while renewable energy generating capacity reached a global record of 544 W (enough to power a refrigerator) per person.
International public financial flows supporting clean energy in developing countries increased slightly to $24.6-billion; and improvements in global energy efficiency continued to reach 3.76 MJ/$, although this remains an insufficient pace to meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 targets, the report points out.
