Renewable Energy and the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Goal 7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for action to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Here we characterise synergies and trade-offs between efforts to achieve SDG7 and the delivery of the 169 Targets in the 2030 Agenda. We identify 113 Targets that require actions to change energy systems, and published evidence of relationships between 143 Targets (143 synergies, 65 trade-offs) with efforts to achieve SDG7. Synergies and trade-offs exist in three key domains, where decisions about SDG7 affect humanity's ability to: (1) realise individual and collective aspirations of greater welfare and wellbeing; (2) build physical and social infrastructures for sustainable development; and (3) achieve sustainable management of the environment and natural resources. There is an urgent need to better organise, connect and extend this body of evidence, in a manner that helps all actors work together to achieve sustainable development.