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
Carbon & Climate
Q&A: Could COP30 spur fossil fuels’ end? This activist thinks so
A global treaty initiative is gathering support to end the expansion of fossil fuels while investing in clean energy.
India and Pakistan have seen strong growth in the rooftop solar sector that offer lessons for the region.
Manufacturing
Fashion brands help textile suppliers boost solar power
Brand investment for Bangladesh's textile factories to build rooftop solar can play a part in clean energy goals.
India's push to formalise e-waste recycling has triggered lawsuits from big brands, which could reshape how critical minerals are recovered.
Opinion
Carbon & Climate
How climate became China’s strategy for survival and security
China’s climate pivot has been shaped by its survival strategy, and this is now quickly redefining its resilience in the 21st century. Whether that power endures will depend on Asean – arguably China’s closest testbed for clean energy development. The recent Asean Summit and Apec meetings suggest China’s successes in climate and development will see a far larger reach beyond its shores.
Policy & Finance
While the West retreats, Asia powers ahead on sustainable finance
Even as political denial and regulatory paralysis grip parts of the West, a different message has been resounding across Asia – it is not retreating, but rising to the occasion.
Resource nationalism can impede energy cooperation in Southeast Asia. Asean can use a mix of carrots and sticks to deal with it.
Policy & Finance
Southeast Asian banks need to end loopholes allowing finance for industrial coal power
If they are serious about a sustainable future, they must close loopholes and extend coal policies across clients’ entire value chains, denying new financing to companies using coal unless they have credible, time-bound clean energy plans.
Carbon & Climate
What a China-EU climate deal could do for the world
Videos
Carbon & Climate
More forest protection and financing needed in 13th Malaysia Plan, say environmental groups
NGOs urged the government to improve forest data transparency by making maps of protected areas publicly available, and to channel funds to frontline communities living near forests.
Policy & Finance
Navigating uncertainty: AIA’s long-term bet on sustainable investing
In this wide-ranging fireside chat moderated by Eco-Business CEO Jessica Cheam, AIA Group's chief investment officer Dr Mark Konyn asserts there is “no U-turn” among corporates invested for the long term, even as political regimes change amid a new world order.
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.
Podcasts
Southeast Asian energy ministers will meet in October to discuss the future of the region’s power grid. GEAPP’s Kitty Bu tells the Eco-Business podcast what areas they must collaborate on, and how finance and industry can help.
In the first of a podcast series featuring Southeast Asia's clean energy entrepreneurs, the CEO of Gurin Energy says that Asean countries will be left behind in artificial intelligence and robotics if the region does not connect its grid and deploy renewables at speed and scale.
Green Buildings
Are our climate targets too weak or too ambitious? Hang Lung Properties’ sustainability chief John Haffner
Having "stretch targets" can spur innovation, says the sustainability chief for one of Hong Kong's largest real estate firms in the latest episode of "On the frontlines". He also shares why the firm has chosen to publish the draft of its net zero plan for open discussion of its climate targets.
Green Buildings
Inaction is not an option for companies in climate-vulnerable nations like India: Lodha ESG chief Aun Abdullah
In the latest episode of 'On the frontlines', the real estate giant's ESG head tells the EB Podcast that while there has been no pushback on climate action by corporate India, questions remain over whether the booming real estate sector is decarbonising fast enough.
