Energy equity: can the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative make a difference?

The Green Economy Coalition provides a statement on the UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative, supporting its goals but arguing for greater ambition and a stronger focus on energy equity and poverty reduction. The document emphasizes that universal energy access is essential for sustainable development and suggests that success should be measured by development benefits rather than technical metrics.

• The UN Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative has established three primary goals to be achieved by 2030: ensuring universal access to modern energy services, doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy within the global energy mix.
• Global energy inequity is significant, with 20% of the population lacking electricity access and approximately 40% lacking clean, safe, and efficient cooking fuel technologies.
• The Green Economy Coalition argues that SE4ALL must prioritize energy access for the poorest to reduce poverty and build climate resilience, asserting that other goals, such as carbon emission reductions, should not compromise this priority. They note that providing electricity to those in energy poverty via fossil-fuel based grid-power alone would only increase global emissions by 1.6%.
• The document suggests that the International Energy Agency believes universal energy access is achievable by 2030 if global investment in energy infrastructure is increased by 3%. While the private sector is expected to provide finance and skills, the authors argue that reaching the poorest will require significant involvement from the public sector, NGOs, and social enterprises, as "base of the pyramid" business models typically target the relatively poor rather than the poorest.
• The statement identifies specific regional energy challenges: Malawi struggles with unsustainable traditional biomass trade; Ghana and Liberia face land-use conflicts and food security risks due to large-scale biomass and biofuel investments; and Nigeria is constrained by an oil and gas export economy that often leads to resource-related conflict with few local benefits. Uganda is noted as a new oil producer at risk of repeating these mistakes.

APA

Wilson, E. (2012). Energy equity: can the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative make a difference? Green Economy Coalition. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/energy-equity-can-un-sustainable-energy-all-initiative-make-difference

Chicago

Wilson, Emma. Energy equity: can the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative make a difference? Green Economy Coalition, 2012. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/energy-equity-can-un-sustainable-energy-all-initiative-make-difference.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Wilson |first1=Emma |title=Energy equity: can the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative make a difference? |publisher=Green Economy Coalition |date=30 March 2012 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/energy-equity-can-un-sustainable-energy-all-initiative-make-difference |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{wilson2012energy, author = {Wilson, Emma}, title = {{Energy equity: can the UN Sustainable Energy for All initiative make a difference?}}, publisher = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2012}, month = mar, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/energy-equity-can-un-sustainable-energy-all-initiative-make-difference}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }