Energy and the Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction

'Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development' was adopted at the UN Summit for Sustainable Development on 25 September 2015. The agenda includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.

The SDGs build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight anti-poverty targets that the world committed to achieving by 2015.

In the Preamble of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development it is stated:

"This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger
freedom. We recognise that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development."

Facts in Brief

• Valid from 1.1.2016-31.12.2030
• 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 targets, 230 indicators
• Universal goals and targets, which involve the entire world, developed and developing countries alike. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development. => each country needs to integrate the SDGs into its policies and formulate implementation strategies.

• The UN has conducted the largest consultation programme in its history to obtain opinion on what the SDGs should include.

17 Goals for a Better Future

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Indicator Development and Global Reporting Mechanism

Indicator Tiers

Based on their level of methodological development and overall data availability, the indicators are grouped into three different tiers:

• A first tier for which an established methodology exists and data are regularly produced by countries (tier I);
• A second tier for which a methodology has been established but for which data are not regularly produced by countries / easily available (tier II);
• A third tier for which an internationally agreed methodology has not yet been developed (tier III)

By end of July 2016 it is planned to have the initial tier system finalized.

Reporting

Data collection and reporting will be carried out as follows:

• Countries will provide their national data and metadata to international agencies, coordinated by the national statistical office, and facilitated as appropriate, by regional mechanisms;
• International agencies will provide global and regional aggregates and accompanying metadata to UNSD for use in the annual progress report and inclusion in the SDG indicator database;
• International agencies will provide country level data and accompanying metadata to UNSD for inclusion in a SDG indicator database, which will be used during the preparation of the annual SDG progress report and to monitor indicator 17.18.1

Goal 7 on Energy in Detail

With Goal 7 energy is finally being recognized as a key enabler for development. Universal access to energy, a higher share of renewable energy and massive improvements in energy efficiency are now part of the top global priorities for sustainable development in the years to come.

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

• 7.1 By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services
  • Indicator 7.1.1 Percentage of the population with access to electricity
  • Indicator 7.1.2 Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology (“Clean” is defined by the emission rate targets and specific fuel recommendations included in the normative guidance WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel combustion).

• 7.2 By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix
  • Indicator 7.2.1: Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption

• 7.3 By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency
  • Indicator 7.3.1: Energy intensity measured in terms of primary energy and GDP

• 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
  • Indicator 7.a.1: Mobilized amount of United States dollars per year starting in 2020 accountable towards the $100 billion commitment (no information on definition, rationale, data collection, etc. available as of 30 March 2016).

• 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.
  • Indicator 7.b.1: Investments in energy efficiency as a percentage of GDP and the amount of foreign direct investment in financial transfer for infrastructure and technology to sustainable development services (no information on definition, rationale, data collection, etc. available as of 30 March 2016).
    

The SE4ALL Global Tracking Framework provides more details on the suggested methodology for tracking access to energy and data already collected.

Energy and other SDGs

Explicit Mentions

Besides SDG 7 there are other SDGs in which energy-related issues are mentioned explicitly:

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

• Target 4.a: Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all
  
  • Indicator 4.a.1: Proportion of schools with access to: (a) electricity; (b) the Internet for pedagogical purposes; (c) computers for pedagogical purposes; (d) adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities; (e) basic drinking water; (f) single-sex basic sanitation facilities; and (g) basic handwashing facilities (as per the WASH indicator definitions)

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

• 12.c Rationalize inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances, including by restructuring taxation and phasing out those harmful subsidies, where they exist, to reflect their environmental impacts, taking fully into account the specific needs and conditions of developing countries and minimizing the possible adverse impacts on their development in a manner that protects the poor and the affected communities.
  • Indicator 12.c.1 Amount of fossil-fuel subsidies per unit of GDP (production and consumption) and as a proportion of total national expenditure on fossil fuels.

Implicit Contribution and Impact of Energy to other SDGs

Energy access, renewable energy, energy efficiency and other energy-related issues are contributing to the achievement of other SDGs, although energy might not have been mentioned explicitly in sub-goals or indicators.

The following is a list, with first explanations and relations. Please elaborate on further points.

Further Information

• Overview on all 17 goals: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300 
• Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld
• Report of the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators gives an overview of the
  indicator framework development process and lists the proposed indicators. E/CN.3/2016/2
• UNDP: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/post-2015-development-agenda.html 
• MDGs - goals, targets, indicators: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/gti.htm
• Sustainable development goals: all you need to know. the Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/19/sustainable-development-goals-united-nations
• Renewable Energy Technologies on energypedia.info: Renewable energy technologies have to be used to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7. In the following portals on energypedia.info practical descriptions of these technologies and their application in the context of developing countries are provided: