On 26 January, the world marks the International Day of Clean Energy — a reminder of how central affordable, reliable and sustainable power is to modern life. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) aims to ensure access to clean and modern energy for all by 2030, underpinning everything from economic development to healthcare and education.
Recent assessments by organisations such as the IEA, IRENA and the World Bank suggest global progress is moving in the right direction, but not nearly fast enough. The biggest concern is widening regional disparity: much of the growth in renewable deployment and new energy access is concentrated in a limited group of countries, while progress in many developing economies is slowing or even reversing due to crises and investment shortages.
IRENA data shows renewables are now close to matching fossil fuels in global installed power capacity — around 46.2% versus 47.3% — yet this transition remains highly uneven across regions.
Energy access is also one of the strongest “enablers” across the 2030 Agenda, supporting progress on poverty reduction, health, education, jobs, sustainable cities and climate action. However, SDG 7 remains off track on key indicators, including electricity access, clean cooking, renewable energy expansion and energy efficiency.
Experts warn that reaching a 1.5°C pathway will require a sharp scale-up in investment: annual spending on renewables, grids, flexibility and efficiency may need to rise to roughly $4.5 trillion per year by 2030. Alongside higher funding, more balanced distribution of investment will be essential to strengthen resilience and reduce global inequality in the clean energy transition.