Role of Energy in Sustainable Development Goals

This essay focuses on the role of energy in the Sustainable Development Goals along with the identification of main issues which may arise during the achievement of SDGs. The main issues which may arise in the achievement of SDGs relevant to energy include the neglected access to electricity, overlooking of energy efficiency, carbon capture and use, lack of availability of infrastructure finance. It is suggested that significant improvements in enabling environments for the programs and projects should be brought for the purpose of achieving SDG.

Running Head: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Sustainable Development

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, are the universal
call to act for protection of the planet, ending poverty, and ensuring that peace and prosperity is
enjoyed by all the people. 17 Goals have been set on the basis of success of the Millennium
Development Goals and has also covered new areas such as economic inequality, climate
change, innovation, peace and justice, and sustainable consumption. There is an interconnection
between the goals which can also be regarded as the key to success (Sustainable Development
Goals, 2018). This essay focuses on the role of energy in the Sustainable Development Goals
along with the identification of main issues which may arise during the achievement of SDGs. At
the end of this essay, some possible solutions to these issues have been provided.
There is an immense role played by energy in the Sustainable Development Goals and is
therefore covered under Goal 7 which aims at ensuring access to reliable, affordable, modern and
sustainable energy for all. Energy has been finally given the recognition of a key enabler for
development. Its role is important as the sustainable development goals cannot be achieved if the
sustainable use of energy is not made and it is not conserved for the future (Nilsson, Lucas and
Yoshida, 2013). Furthermore, its importance is also due to the fact that the implementation and
achievement of each of the 17 SDGs is possible only through the help of energy. SDG Goal 1
and 2 takes into consideration poverty and hunger. The socio- economic well- being of the
communities is significantly affected by the access to the cost effective sources of energy for
lighting, heating and fuel (Sachs, 2015). Furthermore, sustainable agriculture cannot exist if
clean and safe farm energy is ensured by way of putting proper systems in place. In farming,
renewable technologies are considered to be of great importance. SDG 3 AND 4 deals in health
and education and the role of energy in these SDGs promises direct health benefits through the
use of energy efficiency initiatives and renewable energy projects (Barbier and Burgess, 2017).
The emissions of harmful gases which are injurious to the health of humans such as carbon
dioxide, Sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide can be significantly reduced by ensuring a shift from
fossil fuels to the alternative energy sources. The performance of the students is also dependent
on the availability of rural electrification. The requirement of adequate lightning is still
considered to be the major factors which create a differentiation between the urban and rural
poor and their counterparts who live in the abundance of energy (Nilsson, Griggs and Visbeck,
2016).

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SDG Goal 5 and 6 covers gender equality and water which provides that girls and women
belonging to the rural villages and low income settlements are also required to perform the task
of sourcing cooking energy. This directly impact the women entrepreneurs and school girls as
their time gets divided between work, school and searching for cooking fuel. The energy poverty
divide needs to be bridged as soon as possible. On the other hand, water is needed for the
production of energy and it should be ensured that there is a provision of water for both
industrial and domestic use. As far as the SDG 7 and 8 are concerned which covers energy and
economy ROI which calls for the effective development of the energy resources across the
continent (Le Blanc, 2015). The economies will be significantly driven through the sustainable
use of energy along with providing the solutions for alleviating poverty and ensuring green
growth that provides opportunities for sustained future and economic empowerment. SDG 9 and
10 deal with industrialization and inequality which provides that there is heavy reliance of the
industries on the fossil fuels which may create environmental emergencies. There is a
requirement that each and every country gets consistent and stable electricity from non-
renewable and renewable sources (Fukuda- Parr, 2016). Inclusive Cities and Production/
Consumption are covered under SDG Goal 11 and 12. Clean and well managed energy base is
required across the world for sustainable and resilient habitats. Environmental and physical
safety is covered under energy safety along with the safety from danger and risk from interaction
with electrical power. Industrialization and Inequality is covered under SDG 13 and 14. There is
a relationship between climate change and energy as the environment significantly gets impacted
by the production and use of energy. Similarly, SDG 15, 16 and 17 are related with environment,
society and global partnerships. This provides that energy policy is required for every nation
such that the order of nature does not get damaged (Larcher and Tarascon, 2015). Therefore, a
key role is played by energy in all the SDGs.
The main issues which may arise in the achievement of SDGs relevant to energy include the
neglected access to electricity. The statistics provide that there are still 1 million people who
survive without electricity especially in the rural areas of south Asia and sub- Saharan Africa.
Approximately 2.9 million people make the use of solid fuels such as coal, dung, charcoal and
wood for the purpose of heating and cooking. Energy poverty can be regarded as the
consequence of a number of reasons such as remote populations, inefficient utilities, untapped
renewable energy, unhealthy cook stoves, and perceived investment risks. The role of integration

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of services is considered to be crucial in this regard as it can perform an important role in
addressing this gap. The management and setting up of bundle of services will be needed which
will further require the help of government policies (Edwards, 2017). Another issue faced in the
achievement of SDGs is that energy efficiency is often overlooked. For this purpose, the
government is required to think beyond the power generation sector and will need to focus on the
ways through which infrastructure and transport can be made more efficient (Kolk, 2016).
Furthermore, the achievement of SDGs relevant to energy also becomes difficult as a result of
carbon capture and use. The tangling up of the current government around the issue has created
the capturing and storage of carbon a puzzle. The emphasis is on the use of carbon such as
turning carbon dioxide into substitute fuels and building materials. Moreover, the future energy
plans will have no place for coal and the policymakers are required to ensure the support to the
coal communities through the transition. Better alternatives are required to be developed by the
international communities. Also, there is the lack of availability of the infrastructure finance over
the past few decades as a result of the failure of the international community in taking advantage
of low interest rates for pushing sustainable infrastructure development (Edwards, 2017).
For the purpose of achieving the SDG in the form of universal access to the modern energy
services, there is the requirement of making significant improvements in enabling environments
for the programs and projects. The goals can be met only if the annual investment is made
equivalent to $ 45 billion. This will be associated with the expansion of grid electrification,
however, substantial development of off- grid and mini- grid solutions will also be included in
the remote areas. These will be the areas where the main grid extension cannot be regarded as the
economically attractive approach (The World Bank, 2016). Furthermore, through the increased
reliance on the renewable energy resources, the addressing of the energy scarcities can be
ensured by the South Asian countries along with the saving of the valuable foreign exchange
which is presently being spent on the hydrocarbon imports. Hydropower potential can be
harnessed for the purpose of generating sustainable growth. Vast wind and solar energy potential
can be tapped by South Asian countries along with the switching over to the cleaner fuels such as
clean coal and natural gas technologies in coal- based power generation. The related benefits can
be derived from the development of unified energy market associated with energy pipelines and
grids, and forums so that the good practices can be shared along the sub region for the
enhancement of energy efficiency and energy conservation (UNESCAP, 2016).

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Therefore, it can be concluded that The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the universal
call to act for protection of the planet, ending poverty, and ensuring that peace and prosperity is
enjoyed by all the people. An important role is played by energy in all the 17 sustainable
development goals and sustainable use of energy is required for their achievement. The main
issues which may arise in the achievement of SDGs are neglected access to electricity,
overlooking of energy efficiency, carbon capture and use, lack of availability of infrastructure
finance. It is suggested that significant improvements in enabling environments for the programs
and projects should be brought for the purpose of achieving SDG.

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