Affordable and Clean Energy

The 7th Goal of the UN Global Sustainable Development Goals

Maybe you have heard about the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the news? Many people have heard about the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the news over the years. Still, it can be difficult to recall those goals. In this article, we will be discussing the 7th goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is to achieve access to affordable and clean energy for the world.

What are The UN Sustainable Development Goals?

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a scheme from the United Nation. The proposal was to try and achieve peace and prosperity for people in the world and the planet itself, so our future is better. At the center of the agenda is the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which there are 17. The UN called for a global partnership to enhance international cooperation and both developed and developing countries to take these goals seriously so they can hopefully achieve reliable and modern energy by the year 2030. The plans cover various strategies to tackle the problems on earth, including improving health and education, combating climate change (like promoting access to clean energy and lessening air pollutants), increasing gender equality, increasing economic growth, ending poverty and other deprivations, and preserving our forests and oceans.

Is the UN Making Progress in achieving the Affordable and Clean Energy Goal?

Fortunately, the world is making progress towards access to affordable energy in the 7th goal with encouraging signs of advanced and cleaner sustainable energy sources becoming more accessible. Access to electricity in developing countries has begun advancing as well. However, more attention needs to be put on energy access to cooking fuels that are clean and safe because 3 billion people still lack access. The United Nation releases The Energy Progress Report yearly to show what has been achieved by looking at access to clean energy, improvement in energy efficiency, modern energy research and technology, and access to affordable, advanced and modern energy.

The United Nation released a statement about this particular goal to explain more about it to people: “Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production, or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential. Transitioning the global economy progress towards advanced and cleaner energy sources is one of our greatest challenges in the coming decades. Sustainable energy is an opportunity – it transforms lives, economies, and the planet.”

How Has Covid-19 Affected the Affordable and Clean Energy Goal?

Covid-19 was an unforeseeable barrier to the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals project. Of course, this pandemic has severely impacted everyone’s lives and took many of them, but let’s take a look at how it has affected the progress towards the affordable and clean energy goal specifically.

The lack of access to modern energy that still occurs in some parts of the world worsens due to the pandemic. Energy services are key when trying to fight a pandemic, including powering healthcare facilities, enabling research and technology communications in IT services (specifically to upgrade technology for supplying the elderly) to maintain social distancing while still connecting with people, and supplying clean water to maintain essential hygiene. In developing countries, millions still lack access to electricity which has been highly detrimental to their health in the pandemic. People have had unreliable and limited electricity because of energy shortages needed for life-saving power equipment in hospitals. Enterprises involved in expanding infrastructure and upgrading off-grid connections to electricity and promote access to cleaner cooking solutions before the pandemic started to experience disruptions, and many had to be suspended, not achieving their goal to double the improvement of energy access, and some are now at risk of collapsing. There has also been a massive drop for investments in energy involving sustainability.

• Prioritise sending energy to power health clinics and first responders.
• Increase energy reproduction to provide a more sustainable economic recovery when the pandemic is over.
• Keep vulnerable consumers connected.

How Can We Make a Difference?

It can be challenging to know where to start when using renewable energy. It is also daunting when understanding the technology and investments for all of it. At WoodyFuel, we are committed to this cause and believe investments in energy that helps the planet is important and we want the UN to succeed in its energy research and global goal. We aim to help with at least one of the renewable energies, and that’s through biomass!

Producing sustainable and modern energy through biomass has both environmental and economic advantages and could help our health increase substantially. It is a carbon-neutral process and contributes to waste management by harnessing power from products that often end up in landfills. We provide wood chips, pellets, and logs to aid you in starting your switch to renewable modern energy. If your ethos is the same as ours to achieve the goal of affordable and clean energy for the world, click here to see our full range of services!