Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy

The 2018 Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) report provides a global inventory of policies and regulations supporting Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), focusing on electricity access, clean cooking, energy efficiency, and renewable energy across 133 economies from 2010 to 2017.

• The number of countries with advanced (green) policy frameworks for sustainable energy more than tripled between 2010 and 2017, increasing from 17 to 59. Non-OECD economies, including Côte d’Ivoire, United Arab Emirates, Rwanda, Jordan, and Egypt, Arab Rep., were among the five countries with the largest improvements.
• The global average RISE score in 2017 was 58 out of 100, placing the world in the 'yellow' or intermediate zone. At the current rate of improvement (approximately two percentage points per year), the global average is not projected to reach the green zone until 2025, which may jeopardize 2030 SDG7 and Paris Agreement goals.
• Sustainable energy policies are heavily skewed toward the electricity sector, while heating and transportation are often neglected. Renewable energy policies for electricity score nearly double those for transportation and heating/cooling, and energy efficiency policies for electricity score nearly four times higher than those for the other two sectors.
• In low-access countries, there is a significant shift toward off-grid solutions. The share of these countries adopting measures for mini-grids and solar home systems rose from approximately 15% in 2010 to 70% in 2017, while the enabling environment for grid electrification remained relatively stagnant.
• A pilot study of 12 populous countries found that while clean cooking planning has evolved since 2010, progress in standard-setting and consumer/producer incentives is lacking. Policies predominantly focus on improving the efficiency of solid fuels for climate impacts rather than supporting a switch to cleaner fuels for health and affordability.
• The financial health of power utilities is deteriorating, which threatens sustainable energy investments. In 2016, only about half of all power utilities met basic creditworthiness requirements; in low-access countries, this figure dropped from 63% in 2012 to 37% in 2016.
• There is a consistent gap between the adoption of policies 'on paper' and their actual enforcement. Globally, countries score an average of 49 for paper regulations compared to 41 for corresponding enforcement measures, with the widest gap appearing in energy access.
• Renewable energy legal frameworks have seen widespread adoption, with 84% of countries having one by 2017. However, grid integration remains a challenge; only about half of countries have renewable energy-related standards in their grid codes, and only 25% have variability forecasting provisions in dispatch operations.
• Energy efficiency progress is most evident in the industrial sector, where the uptake of efficiency measures increased from 26% in 2010 to 60% in 2017. However, monitoring and verification are weak, with only 26% of countries having penalties for non-compliance and 22% having measurement and verification programs for large consumers.
• Residential building energy codes are primarily adopted by OECD high-income countries. A significant gap exists between the existence of these codes and the presence of compliance systems, particularly in middle-income countries.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2018). Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/RISE_2018.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy. 2018. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/RISE_2018.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy |date=2018 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/RISE_2018.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2018regulatory, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-04/RISE_2018.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }