Progressing Sustainable Development Goal 7 via Energy Access: Results from the 27 EU Member States

Abstract

Energy plays an undeniable role in socioeconomic development. The energy issue is addressed in Agenda 2030 as one of its 17 goals. The article presents research on the statistical evaluation of the level of implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 7, that is, ‘ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all’ in the 27 EU member states. Seven indicators measuring different areas of energy accessibility monitored by Eurostat were applied to evaluate the EU countries. A multivariate comparative analysis was used to create a synthetic measure, i.e., the zero unitarisation method. The empirical analysis resulted in a ranking of the 27 EU countries in terms of the level of SDG 7 in 2015–2023. In addition to the ranking, a classification of countries into groups of similar countries in terms of the level of SDG 7 in 2015 and 2023 was presented. Furthermore, countries with the most significant advancement and those with the greatest declines in achieving SDG 7 in 2023 compared to 2015 were proposed. A sensitivity analysis was applied to evaluate a robustness of the composite indicator. Research confirmed a downward differentiation of EU countries in terms of the degree of implementation of SDG 7. Denmark, Romania, and Sweden were the top three countries in 2015, and Denmark, Sweden, and Estonia in 2023. The countries that appeared the weakest in the implementation of SDG 7 were in 2015, Cyprus, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and in 2023, Belgium, Lithuania, Cyprus, and Luxembourg. Luxembourg, Ireland, and Malta made the greatest progress toward SDG 7. At the same time, the largest decline was observed in Spain. The research results highlighted the problems in implementing SDG 7 not only for the less developed countries, mainly in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, but also for the highly developed Western countries. The applied research procedure may help to identify areas for improvement needed in the effective implementation of SDG 7 in the EU member countries. The procedure, however, has limitations. These include, among others, using a linear approach, taking into account only variables measured by Eurostat or an ambiguous effect of energy consumption indicators on SDG 7 evaluation.