Achieving Universal Electricity Access
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 7 aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all” in less than a decade. Despite significant progress in recent years, the world is falling short of meeting the global electricity targets set for 2030 (SDG 7.1). By combining high-resolution data and economic modelling, this dashboard presents tools that allows the identification of electricity-deficit areas and understanding the multifaceted effects of pursuing electrification together with an integrated policy push across the SDGs (SDG Push+).
Development Impact
Pushing for universal electricity access through Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) interventions can have powerful multi-faceted effects across economic and human development. Despite its benefits, expanding electricity access comes with significant costs that may require trade-offs in fiscal choices. By using futures modelling that captures both synergies and trade-offs of pursuing particular SDG targets, UNDP and the Pardee Center for International Futures (University of Denver) assessed the current state of electricity access and modelled different pathways to achieving significant milestones in electricity access, including the UN-Energy Pledge and the UNDP commitments.
More importantly, the report findings can be combined with insights on energy access, ability to pay and forecasts on electricity access to fully unleash the power of data and analytics to support advocating for target support for those furthest behind.
SDG Push+: Effects of accelerating universal access
545
trillion dollars
in GDP gains by 2050, over 5x the current global value
270
million
fewer people in poverty by 2050
18.6
million
deaths averted by 2050 by eliminating traditional cookstoves
What underpins this analysis?
To understand the potential effects of electrification, three scenarios were modelled:
- the Current Path scenario reflects ‘business-as-usual’ with a gradual improvement in access rates as countries develop and invest in building new infrastructure;
- the Universal Access scenario simulates a rapid increase in sustainable and clean access in all regions, meeting the UN Energy Pledge of expanding access to 500 million people by 2025, and continuing to expand access to 2030.
- the SDG Push+ combines the SDG Push (concrete policy options across governance, social protection, green economy, and digitalization) with Universal Access to electricity.
Learn more about the study.
Benefits of electricity access - larger gains for the most vulnerable
The SDG Push + scenario shows that with ambitious but feasible set of interventions across governance, social protection, green recovery, and digitalization, combined with universal access to electricity, 110 million people could be lifted out of poverty by 2030. The poverty gain is driven by increasing access to energy that improves productivity – the productivity increase is seven times higher when universal energy access by 2030 is combined with the integrated investments of the SDG Push, reflected in GDP estimated gains of USD 16 trillion by 2030 and 545 trillion by 2050.
Regionally, the benefits of Universal Access, in combination with an SDG Push, are even more pronounced: in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is associated with over USD 5 trillion in cumulative GDP benefits and over 36 million people lifted out of extreme poverty by 2050. It also brings significant reductions in female population living in extreme poverty due to the set of interventions targeting gender equality.
With a doubling in the use of modern fuel cookstoves, the use of traditional cookstoves will be practically eliminated by 2050 if Universal Access is provided as part of an integrated set of SDG interventions. With this, over 18.6 million deaths from respiratory diseases and infections could be averted by 2050 relatively to the deaths expected in the Current Path.” To: ‘The benefits of the SDG Push + extend beyond poverty, with co-benefits across development outcomes, including a doubling in the use of modern fuel cookstoves. With this, the use of traditional cookstoves will be practically eliminated by 2050 if Universal Access is provided as part of an integrated set of SDG interventions. As a consequence, over 18.6 million deaths from respiratory diseases and infections could be averted by 2050 relatively to the deaths expected in the Current Path.
Costs of universal access
Despite the significant amount of investments in electricity connections (including new construction and maintenance of existing connections) required to provide Universal Access, the world can harness its benefits in a relatively short period of time. Compared to the Current Path, cumulative gains in per capita GDP are higher than the total cumulative additional costs on expanding electricity by 2037. However, investments required to expand electricity access in rural areas are higher than in urban areas.
