Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2026

The 2026 Energy Progress Report reveals that the world is off track for all SDG7 targets by 2030. While Asia has made significant strides in electricity and clean cooking access, Africa's progress is stagnating or regressing due to a 'population trap' where demographic growth outpaces new connections. Renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements are slowing, with global progress heavily dependent on a small number of high-consuming economies. The report calls for a massive scale-up in finance and targeted infrastructure investments to prevent millions from remaining without basic energy services.

• As of 2024, 655 million people globally lack electricity access. While the total unelectrified population has fallen by approximately 486 million since 2010, 95% of these gains occurred in Asia.
• Africa now contains approximately 89% of the world's unelectrified population. Despite an increase in the regional access rate from 45% to 62% since 2010, the absolute number of people without electricity remains nearly flat (591 million in 2010 vs 581 million in 2024) due to rapid population growth.
• Approximately 2 billion people lack access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. The center of gravity for this deficit has shifted to Africa, which now has a larger deficit (~997 million) than Asia (~911 million).
• Global progress in clean cooking is highly concentrated in two countries; India alone provided roughly two-thirds of the world's net reduction in the deficit between 2018 and 2024.
• Renewable energy accounted for 18.0% of total final energy consumption in 2023, with modern renewables making up 13.4%. Progress is slow, with the total share increasing by only 3 percentage points since 2010.
• The 20 largest energy-consuming countries represent about 75% of global energy demand but derive only 16% of their energy from renewable sources.
• Global energy intensity improved by only 1.5% in 2023, continuing a slowdown since 2015. To meet the 2030 target, annual improvements must now reach approximately 4%.
• Investment in energy efficiency reached USD 429 billion in 2025, which is only about 75% of the USD 566 billion annual investment required under the IEA Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario.
• International public financial flows for clean energy in developing countries reached USD 24.6 billion in 2024, which is only 78% of the peak level seen in 2016.
• Projections indicate that by 2030, at least 644 million people will still lack electricity and 1.6 billion will lack clean cooking access if current trends persist.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2026). Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2026. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2026-07/SEforALL%20Tracking%20SDG7%20-%20The%20Energy%20Progress%20Report%202026_22Jul2026.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2026. 2026. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2026-07/SEforALL%20Tracking%20SDG7%20-%20The%20Energy%20Progress%20Report%202026_22Jul2026.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2026 |date=July 2026 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2026-07/SEforALL%20Tracking%20SDG7%20-%20The%20Energy%20Progress%20Report%202026_22Jul2026.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2026tracking, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2026}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2026}, month = jul, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2026-07/SEforALL%20Tracking%20SDG7%20-%20The%20Energy%20Progress%20Report%202026_22Jul2026.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }