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
The number of new coal plants under development in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) region has reached record lows since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
Carbon & Climate
Southeast Asia’s environmental defenders on the frontline
Environmental defenders across Southeast Asia face threats, violence and legal hurdles in their fight for justice. Five share their struggles.
Carbon & Climate
Sustainability innovations that made headlines in 2024
Climate tech financing has dwindled in recent years, while investor doubts on alternative proteins persist. In a difficult year for sustainability technologies, Eco-Business spotlights some of the innovations that still made the headlines.
Indonesia has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2060, but its reliance on biofuels could create new environmental harms.
Carbon & Climate
Analysis: China’s coal-to-chemicals growth risks climate goals
Carbon & Climate
Coal will be a central pillar of COP31, wherever it’s held
Opinion
Carbon & Climate
Making carbon trading work: Exploring collaboration between Japan and Asean countries
Asean's growing carbon trading initiatives present vast opportunities for emissions reduction and economic growth, but equitable frameworks and robust regulations are critical to their success.
Policy & Finance
Companies are not ditching net zero – they are refining goals
Instead of backtracking on net zero, companies are retracting unsubstantiated carbon neutrality claims – a positive development.
Policy & Finance
‘No-Go’ mining zones can protect nature as renewable energy surges
Prohibiting mining in key areas can safeguard biodiversity and Indigenous rights in the energy transition.
Carbon & Climate
Redefine the romanticised narrative of the ‘resilient Filipino’ for broader climate policy transformation
Climate change is clearly affecting the Philippines. Whether it can transform a long-held national attribute into successful climate adaptation will determine what the future holds.
Policy & Finance
Did COP29 fail women?
Videos
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
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.
