This joint tracking report provides the most comprehensive look available at the world’s progress towards global energy targets on access to electricity, clean cooking, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Prepared by the Custodian Agencies for Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), the report gives the international community a global dashboard to register progress on three key targets:

• Ensuring universal energy access;
• Doubling progress on energy efficiency;
• Substantially increasing the share of renewable energy by 2030.

It assesses the progress made by each country on these targets and provides a snapshot of how far we are from achieving SDG7. The 2019 release is the fourth edition of the report, formerly known as the Global Tracking Framework (GTF).

The world is not currently on track to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which calls for ensuring “access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030, the report says. Current progress falls short on all four of the SDG7 targets, which encompass universal access to electricity as well as clean fuels and technologies for cooking, and call for a doubling of the rate of improvement of energy efficiency, plus a substantial increase in the share of renewables in the global energy mix.

More encouraging than global trends, however, are the strong performances evident within specific countries, across both the developed and developing worlds. These national experiences provide valuable lessons for other countries, and evidence is mounting that with holistic approaches, targeted policies and international support, substantial gains can be made in clean energy and energy access that will improve the lives of millions of people.

The Custodian Agencies that prepared the Energy Progress Report are: the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Report by the World Health Organisation