The World Bank and the International Energy Agency have released their Progress Toward Sustainable Energy report for 2015. The report is part of the UN's Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative, and coincides with the second annual Sustainable Energy for All Forum taking place in New York from May 18-21. The statistics in the report show marked progress towards achieving the goals of SE4All, but also demonstrates that this progress is not happening fast enough to reach these goals by 2030.
According to Kandeh Yumkella of the UN, SE4All's three main objectives include "ensuring universal access to modern energy services, doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy in the world's energy mix, all by 2030." He adds that "ending energy poverty does not have to come at the expense of the planet."
The report looked at global energy data across a variety of categories between 2010 and 2012. During this period, "the share of modern renewable energy in the global energy mix" increased by 4 percent a year. While this growth looks promising, it will need to increase by around 7.5 percent a year in order to meet SE4All's goals. The data also showed that 1.1 billion people do not have access to electricity, while 2.9 billion use "polluting fuels" to cook.
To reach the desired pace of improvement, the report suggests tripling current global investments in renewable energy to a total of $1.25 trillion a year. It also stresses the importance of sharing knowledge and technology, as well as considering connected global issues like "water, agriculture, gender, and health."
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