One third of world’s population have no access to clean cooking fuels, technologies —Ogunbiyi

Latest data shows that a third of the world’s population have no access to clean cooking fuels and technologies.

Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and Co-Chair of UN-Energy made this known while giving a review of her first year leading SEforALL in a recent speech titled: “2020 in review: A pandemic, renewed urgency on energy access and some optimism.”

According to Ogunbiyi, “The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored that energy access saves lives. Yet despite some progress in recent years, the latest Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) data shows just under 800 million people still lack access to electricity and 2.8 billion people – a third of the world’s population – have no access to clean cooking fuels and technologies.

“While the pandemic poses continued challenges, we can still achieve SDG7 – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all – by 2030 if we act with the urgency and ambition this moment calls for. Achieving this future is at the very core of SEforALL’s mission.

“Even in the midst of this surreal year, there has been much success and work I am particularly proud of at SEforALL. Here are my top seven highlights.”

The SEforALL CEO said that “Access to energy is at the heart of combatting the pandemic. That is why SEforALL adjusted our programme of work and launched new efforts to support energy access action at this critical time. From hosting Virtual Donor Summits in support of off-grid companies who are on the frontlines providing electricity for remote, vulnerable populations, to our ongoing Powering Healthcare work coordinating the energy and health sectors to ensure health clinics have the energy solutions they need – our work has focused on being a voice for those that are most vulnerable in the pandemic.”

Ogunbiyi noted that “This year’s Energising Finance research from SEforALL continued to show chronic underinvestment in energy access. The shortfall in finance has reached acute levels in many of the 20 high-impact countries across Africa and Asia with the largest access gaps. It is clear we need new solutions to vastly scale up finance for energy access. That is why SEforALL, along with key partners, launched a new results-based financing facility this year. The Universal Energy Facility (UEF), which has opened in Madagascar and Sierra Leone for mini-grid projects, will provide incentive payments to eligible organisations that deploy clean energy solutions and provide verified new energy connections. The UEF will expand to additional countries and include solar home systems and clean cooking over the coming years.”

She concluded noting that: “With the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down progress on energy access and clean energy transitions in 2020, SEforALL’s work will be even more crucial in 2021. We will continue to focus on implementation and advancing the tangible actions and programmes that result in clean energy connections on the ground. But we will also continue elevating the importance of energy access, particularly in the lead up to the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy in September and COP26 in November 2021, with drumbeat messaging that the world cannot achieve net zero emissions by 2050 without first achieving universal access to sustainable energy by 2030.”

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