1. Energy and UN's SDGs
An introduction to United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal and Targets. This part will cover what is energy and how does it relates to the sustainable development goals.
The term ‘energy’ refers to the power derived from the physical or chemical resources to provide light/ heat. This heat/ light is important for work to happen.
After the formulation of the sustainable development goals, all the countries started to focus on changing their approaches towards the environment, energy and other related fields. Achieving our energy and sustainability goals demands a dramatic scaling up of clean energy technologies. Of the 17 SDGs formulated by the United Nations, Goal 7 is focused towards the provision and development of clean and affordable Energy.
The Goal 7 includes 3 targets that are to be fulfilled by 2030. They are[1]:
- Target 7.1: To ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy
- Target 7.2: Increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
- Target 7.3: To double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
- Target 7.a: By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and promote investment in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology.
- Target 7.b: By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support.
One of the major obstacles in the path of socio- economic development is the inaccessibility to the energy supply and transformations systems. Therefore, affordable and clean energy is the heart of the sustainable development goals. This includes ensuring universal access to electricity, improvement in clean cooking fuels, increasing the share of renewable energy and enhancing energy efficiency. The expansion of clean energy would play a crucial role in agriculture production, health sector, education, water systems, and infrastructure development. The main challenge in SDG 7 is how to scale access to clean energy along with decarbonizing the energy supply.
Did you Know?
Worldwide, 1.1 billion people still have no electricity and 3 billion people use polluting fuels/ wooden based cooking systems.[2]
Energy sources across the planet can be broadly categorized into two types based on their replenishing capacity-
- Renewable Energy Sources
- Non- Renewable Energy Sources
