Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7)—Affordable and Clean Energy—seeks to ensure access to reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Energy drives everything: healthcare, education, communication, industry, and economic growth. Yet nearly 675 million people globally still lack access to electricity (IEA, 2023).
The global energy landscape is marked by inequality. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, continues to face widespread energy poverty, where off-grid communities rely on biomass or diesel, impacting health and economic resilience (World Bank, 2023). Meanwhile, industrialised nations are shifting toward renewables, raising questions of equity in the global energy transition.
Energy production is the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, making clean energy central to climate action. Scaling up solar, wind, hydro, and storage solutions is essential—not just to meet rising demand, but to do so sustainably.