TRACKING SDG7: THE ENERGY PROGRESS REPORT

The 2018 Energy Progress Report, a joint publication by five custodian agencies, evaluates global progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). It concludes that the world is not on track to achieve universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy by 2030, as current progress falls short across all four SDG7 targets: electricity access, clean cooking, energy efficiency, and the share of renewable energy.

• The world is not currently on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) by 2030, with progress falling short on all four targets: universal electricity access, clean cooking fuels and technologies, doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvement, and increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix.
• Approximately 1 billion people, representing about 13% of the global population, lack electricity. While annual access has increased by around 118 million people since 2010, current trajectories suggest that 674 million people will still be without electricity in 2030.
• Electricity access is accelerating in sub-Saharan Africa, where progress has overtaken population growth for the first time. Notable performers between 2010 and 2016 include Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, which expanded access by at least 3% of their population annually.
• Access to clean cooking is the most lagging area of SDG7, with 3 billion people (over 40% of the population) lacking access. If current trends continue, 2.3 billion people will still use traditional cooking solutions in 2030. In sub-Saharan Africa, population growth between 2014 and 2016 was four times faster than the growth of the population gaining access to clean cooking.
• As of 2015, renewables accounted for 17.5% of total final energy consumption, with modern renewables at 9.6%. While the share of renewables in electricity reached 22.8% in 2015, progress is slower in transport (2.8% in 2015) and heating (24.8% in 2015, with only one third from modern renewables).
• Global energy intensity declined by an average of 2.2% annually from 2010 to 2015, but this is below the 2.6% annual decline required to meet the SDG7 target. The rate of improvement slowed further in 2017 to 1.7%.
• Economic growth is uncoupling from energy use, with global GDP growing nearly twice as fast as primary energy supply between 2010 and 2015. This trend was observed in all income groups and all regions except Western Asia.
• Industrial energy intensity has improved by 2.7% per annum since 2010. However, residential energy intensity has increased since 2010 in low and middle-income countries, and global thermal power generation fuel conversion efficiency remains below 39%.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2018). TRACKING SDG7: THE ENERGY PROGRESS REPORT. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-05/TrackingSDG7_18-executive_summary.pdf

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. TRACKING SDG7: THE ENERGY PROGRESS REPORT. 2018. https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-05/TrackingSDG7_18-executive_summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=TRACKING SDG7: THE ENERGY PROGRESS REPORT |date=2018 |url=https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-05/TrackingSDG7_18-executive_summary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2018tracking, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{TRACKING SDG7: THE ENERGY PROGRESS REPORT}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.seforall.org/system/files/2019-05/TrackingSDG7_18-executive_summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }