SE4ALL Event Highlights Tracking Needs for SDG 7

On the sidelines of the 47th Session of the UN Statistical Commission (UNSC 47), chief statisticians, UN Member States, and stakeholders discussed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 (Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all). Among other topics, panelists and participants discussed the Sustainable Energy For All (SE4All) Global Tracking Framework, which shows progress towards sustainable energy objectives between 2010 and 2012.

The side-event "Monitoring indicators for SDG 7 on energy", organized by the SE4All Secretariat, took place on 8 March 2016, in New York, US. The Framework tracks progress towards universal access to modern energy, doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements and doubling the share of renewable energy consumption in the global energy mix.

Vivien Foster, World Bank Group, noted that the world is still not moving fast enough to reach SE4ALL targets by 2030, and is even moving further away from the clean cooking ambition, as the number of people without access to clean cooking is increasing. She said two key types of disaggregation on clean energy data will be by technology, and by grid/ off grid. She also observed that the available data on transportation allows for calculating energy consumption, but not transport efficiency.

Yera Ortiz de Urbina, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), said IRENA is ready to assist countries with collecting and compiling data. IRENA maintains country profiles for the countries it works with, and also collaborates with regional organizations. Reupena Muagututia, UN Inter-Agency and Expert Group for the SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs), Samoa, underscored that reporting on the SDGs will be voluntary, country-led, and will respect policy space.