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Energy access is improving, but progress towards 2030 targets requires ‘greater collective effort’, says new report
9/7/2025
News
Significant progress has been made toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) of universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy by 2030. However, the current rate of progress is insufficient to meet the target globally and continued international financial support and cooperation are essential to accelerate progress and address regional disparities, finds a new report. Although the percentage of the world population that had access to electricity rose to almost 92% in 2023, some 666 million people still lacked basic access.
Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2025 highlights the role of distributed renewable energy (a combination of mini-grid and off-grid solar systems) to accelerate access, since the population remaining unconnected lives mostly in remote, lower-income, and fragile areas. Cost-effective and rapidly scalable, decentralised solutions are able to reach communities in such rural areas, says the report. The report was produced by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Decentralised solutions are also needed to increase access to clean cooking. With an estimated 1.5 billion people residing in rural areas still lacking access to clean cooking, the use of off-grid clean technologies, such as household biogas plants and mini-grids that facilitate electric cooking, can provide solutions that reduce health impacts caused by household air pollution. Over 2 billion people remain dependent on polluting and hazardous fuels such as firewood and charcoal for their cooking needs. If current trends continue, only 78% of the global population will have access to clean cooking by 2030, the report warns.
Still, it finds that ‘notable progress’ has been made. International financial flows to developing countries in support of clean energy grew for the third year in a row to reach $21.6bn in 2023. Installed renewables capacity per capita continued to increase year-on-year to reach a new high of 341 Watts per capita in developing countries, up from 155 Watts in 2015.
Yet regional disparities persist, with support needed for developing regions, in particular sub-Saharan Africa. Although renewables deployment has rapidly expanded in this region, it remains limited to 40 Watts of installed capacity per capita on average, which is only one-eighth of the average of other developing countries. Some 85% of the global population without electricity access resides in sub-Saharan Africa, while four in five families are without access to clean cooking. And the number of people without clean cooking access in the region continues to grow at a rate of 14 million people yearly, estimates the report.
The report identifies ‘a lack of sufficient and affordable financing’ as a key reason for regional inequalities and slow progress. To ‘build on the achievements to date and avoid any further regressions on access to electricity and clean cooking due to looming risks in global markets’, the report calls for ‘strengthened international cooperation of public and private sectors, to scale up financial support for developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa’. Urgent actions include reforms in multilateral and bilateral lending to expand the availability of public capital; more concessional finance mobilisation, grants and risk mitigation instruments; improvement in risk tolerance among donors; as well as appropriate national energy planning and regulations.
‘Renewables have seen record growth in recent years, reminding the world of its affordability, scalability, and its role in further reducing energy poverty. But we must accelerate progress at this crunch time,’ comments Francesco La Camera, Director General, IRENA. He added: ‘To close the access and infrastructure gaps, we need strengthened international cooperation to scale up affordable financing and impact-driven capital for the least developed and developing countries.’
Fatih Birol, Executive Director, IEA, continues: ‘Despite progress in some parts of the world, the expansion of electricity and clean cooking access remains disappointingly slow, especially in Africa. This is contributing to millions of premature deaths each year linked to smoke inhalation and is holding back development and education opportunities. Greater investment in clean cooking and electricity supply is urgently required, including support to reduce the cost of capital for projects.’
Stefan Schweinfest, Director, UNSD, adds: ‘The clock is ticking. The findings of this year’s report should serve as a rallying point, to rapidly mobilise efforts and investments, so that together, we ensure sustainable energy for all by 2030.’
Dashboards and additional information can be found on the Tracking SDG 7 website.
