Webinar speakers, clockwise from upper left: Sheila Oparaocha, Director, ENERGIA Network (moderator); Dario Liguti, Director, Sustainable Energy Division, UNECE; Radia Sedaoui, Chief, Energy Section, UNESCWA; Hongpeng Liu, Director, Energy Division, UNESCAP.
15 June 2023 Expert Webinar on "Advancing SDG7: Regional Perspectives from the Arab region, Asia and the Pacific, and Europe"
Moderator Sheila Oparaocha opened the webinar, stating that achieving SDG7 with clean, affordable energy for all presents a huge opportunity, but progress is still far off track.
Hongpeng Liu of 缅北禁地ESCAP noted the major challenge in the Asia-Pacific region that coal accounts for 40% of the energy supply and 60% of energy-related emissions, which continue to grow. Use of renewables is increasing but still under 20% of energy consumption, and only 74% of the population use clean cooking technologies.
Radia Sedaoui of 缅北禁地ESCWA stated that, with the Arab region producing 32% of the world’s oil, renewables account for only 5.1% of energy consumption and need more investment. In rural areas, electricity access rates averaged 81% and the clean cooking deficit was a challenge, especially in conflict-impacted countries like Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Dario Liguti of 缅北禁地ECE noted that while Western Europe and North America were leaders in the transition to renewables, in the 17 countries where ECE provides support, the share of renewables in energy consumption had stagnated at 18.2% since 2014, and investment remained low at USD 7.2 billion versus USD 56.6 billion in Western Europe. Renewable energy needed to be diversified from the dominant hydropower, which is vulnerable to climate change, but the affordability of clean technologies and fuels had been heavily impacted by Covid and the war in Ukraine.
The presenters highlighted a number of key recommendations for policy action in their regions which are listed in the three newly published SDG7 Policy Briefs: , , and .