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
News
Carbon & Climate
Singapore university fossil fuel divestment group slows down as groups report waning interest in climate activism
Students for a Fossil Free Future is rethinking its approach after struggling to recruit new members and sustain capacity. Other environmental groups in the city-state report signs of declining interest in climate advocacy.
Policy & Finance
China releases its first green sovereign bonds in London
Experts say the bonds will attract international investment in China’s green transition, bringing private funding and boosting international climate cooperation.
Policy & Finance
Power plays: China’s changing energy financing in Africa
Loans to Africa have been driven by China’s policy banks in support for coal and hydropower, but a more diverse cast of creditors could steer support towards greener ventures.
Nearly 60 countries have drastically scaled back their plans for building coal-fired power plants since the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to figures released by Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
Opinion
Policy & Finance
Can COP30 succeed where COP29 failed?
There is scepticism around climate finance through private investments, and if private finance is to play a bigger role, policy reforms ahead of this year’s COP30 are needed. Alternatively, could the G20 or BRICS lead on climate finance?
A backlash against the rapid rollout of energy infrastructure defies broad support for renewables. There are better ways of working with affected communities.
Leading a group of mothers, campaigner Bhavreen Kandhari tells WHO conference that children need a quicker energy transition.
Policy & Finance
Trump’s Ukraine deal exposes a dirty truth about minerals
Resource-rich countries are signing critical mineral deals under duress, sacrificing long-term benefits.
Transport
Can the shipping industry decarbonise?
Policy & Finance
Securing critical minerals a must for India’s clean energy ambitions
Videos
Policy & Finance
Navigating uncertainty: AIA’s long-term bet on sustainable investing
In this wide-ranging fireside chat moderated by Eco-Business CEO Jessica Cheam, AIA Group's chief investment officer Dr Mark Konyn asserts there is “no U-turn” among corporates invested for the long term, even as political regimes change amid a new world order.
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.
Podcasts
Carbon & Climate
‘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.
Carbon & Climate
‘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.
Green Buildings
‘Sustainability must be accessible’: Arthaland’s CSO on making sustainable real estate in the Philippines a norm
EB Studio
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.
Energy
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.
