Deploying the Synergies Between Energy Access and Sustainable Development

Securing universal access to clean and reliable energy is a critical milestone for both: realising the just and green transformations of our energy systems and achieving the other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted through the Agenda 2030.

On 6 October 2022 the Wuppertal Institute will hold a digital Zukunftssalon from 10.30 am to 12.00 pm CET as part of the "The Forces of Transformation" series to dive deeper into "Deploying the synergies between energy access and sustainable development".

By 2020 730 Million people still lived without access to electricity and almost a third of the world population relied on inefficient and unhealthy fuels and technologies for cooking their daily meals. Overcoming these energy inequalities and marginalisation is one of the core tasks for the realisation of just energy transitions. Moreover, energy marginalisation not only implies living conditions out of the reach of energy infrastructures. Very often it is also linked to poor access to other basic services, such as health, education, water, sanitation, transport and communication networks. And energy is often key for securing the provision of such services. Indeed energy is inextricably linked to virtually all other sustainable development goals (SDGs).

In the last decade, important advances have been achieved in attending the energy needs of marginalised population. However, the current pace of change is insufficient for reaching universal access to electricity, clean fuels, and technologies for cooking by 2030, as set under the SDG7. Moreover, the dynamics in other SDGs is similarly worrying. Therefore, more than ever before it is important to understand and effectively deploy the synergies between energy access and other sustainable development dimensions. In principle, energy can (em)power practically any component of the livelihoods of people. However, achieving real and long-lasting impacts remains a crucial challenge.

• What are those general synergies between energy access and other SDGs?
• How can energy access projects recognise and effectively attend the context-specific development opportunities, motivations and challenges of the involved communities?
• What are the factors that influence the actual impact on sustainable development from energy access projects?

In this digital Zukunftssalon Dr. Long Seng To, Joint Director of the Centre for Sustainable Transitions: Energy, Environment and Resilience (STEER) at Loughborough University, and Dr. Julia C. Terrapon-Pfaff, Co-Head of the Research Unit International Energy Transitions at the Wuppertal Institute, will discuss both conceptual advances and evidence from empirical research about how energy access interventions can effectively spark sustainable development of the involved communities. The online seminar will be hosted by Dr. Willington Ortiz, Researcher in the Research Unit International Energy Transitions at the Wuppertal Institute.