7. Affordable and clean energy
Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential. Ensuring access to affordable, reliable and modern energy for all has come one step closer due to recent progress in electrification, particularly in LDCs, and improvements in industrial energy efficiency. However, national priorities and policy ambitions still need to be strengthened to put the world on track to meet the energy targets for 2030.
Read our stories to learn more about SDG Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy
SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy is supported by Energy Development Corporation
Berita
The G20 in Rio de Janeiro recommitted to tackling fossil fuel subsidies, but vulnerable communities need support.
Kebijakan & Keuangan
Will China assume more responsibility for global climate finance?
As the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance approaches at COP29, China’s stance is drawing significant attention.
Global Witness warns that mining for green energy is fuelling conflict and human rights abuses in Asia and elsewhere, urging tougher standards and protections.
Energi
Australia’s Woodside Energy defends climate strategy, cites cost as a barrier to gas decarbonisation
In an interview with Eco-Business, CEO Meg O'Neill says Woodside will have to engage investors on natural gas decarbonisation and decide if doing so is "the most effective use of shareholder capital". Australia has been under fire for backing gas drilling despite its 2050 net zero goal.
Opini
Kebijakan & Keuangan
COP29 must deliver the goods
Geopolitical turmoil must not be allowed to distract global decision-makers from the urgent imperative of tackling climate change. There is no excuse for letting COP29 conclude without delivering ambitious, credible financing commitments to support climate action – including the clean-energy transition – in developing economies.
Investors risk pouring billions into what could soon become stranded assets in countries such as the Philippines. Liquified natural gas is not the future – it’s a financial trap.
If policymakers can overcome the remaining technological, regulatory, and financial barriers, the COP28 goal of tripling renewable-energy capacity by 2030 will be well within reach – with solar leading the way.
Energi
Power wheeling can drive corporate investments and advance Indonesia’s renewable energy goals
Allowing private firms to sell clean power directly to consumers via PLN's networks could help the country meet its targets without burdening the national budget and to let the state-owned electricity utility focus on grid modernisation.
Video
There is consensus that coal needs to be retired early in Asia, but the mechanisms for financing the phase-out are not clear. This mini-documentary examines how transition credits work and whether they can fund Southeast Asia's equitable switch to clean power.
After 20 years without electricity, more than 50 households in Cebu's poorest district have been provided with solar energy, financed by carbon offsets.
Vietnam's wind market is thriving, but more work lies ahead if the country wants to power its booming economy without imperilling its people and the planet.
Southeast Asian nations are racing to bring clean, affordable power to their people, but one country is outrunning them all. How can states make their renewable energy transition a success?
Podcasts
Karbon & Iklim
‘The problem is not that young people are eco-anxious. It’s that people in positions of power are not’: activist Clover Hogan
Eco-anxiety is a healthy psychological response, says 24-year-old activist Clover Hogan. The founder of nonprofit Force of Nature tells the Eco-Business Podcast how to respond to anxiety in a world that is "numb" to the climate crisis.
Karbon & Iklim
‘Nobody wants to be the bad guy’: Authors of optimistic climate novel say don’t write off oil industry solutions
Former petrochemicals industry executives Steve Willis and Genevieve Hilton have written a novel set 50 years into the future that has a happy ending. They tell the Eco-Business podcast that the book is a pitch to carbon-intensive industries to try workable climate solutions.
Bangunan Ramah
‘Sustainability must be accessible’: Arthaland’s CSO on making sustainable real estate in the Philippines a norm
Studio EB
If a real estate development can reduce energy and water consumption – and emit fewer carbon emissions – it is built to last, Oliver Chan tells the Eco-Business podcast. The key, however, is to first educate future homeowners and businesses that going green does not mean breaking the bank.
Energi
Scrutiny, Scope 3 and Asian realities: Petronas sustainability chief on climate action at COP28
The oil and gas sector needs to cut operational emissions faster, Charlotte Wolff-Bye tells the Eco-Business podcast. But slashing fuel output won’t do for the Asian supplier, and it welcomes respectful debate at the climate summit.
