Energy Poverty Impacts Three Billion People. Time to Think Big.

The CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) on whether the international community is failing on SDG7, what she thinks net zero means for Africa & how she challenges the stereotype of what an African leader looks like. Damilola Ogunbiyi is the CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy.

Energy is fundamental to modern living and any competitive prosperous economy. SDG7 calls for modern energy for all, but the indicator for tracking progress against this goal is meeting a very low level of residential electricity consumption.

10 Recommendations to enhance Power Africa’s impact on energy poverty, economic development, and climate change The US Government’s Power Africa initiative grew out of a bipartisan commitment to addressing energy poverty.

The Imperative for Small Island Energy Resilience With over 30 storms named, 2020’s Atlantic hurricane season was the most active on record and the tenth consecutive year with eight or more billion-dollar disasters.1 The 2021 hurricane season is already underway, projected to extend the record to six consecutive seasons with above-normal storm activity.2 FIGURE 1: Natural disaster impacts to the Caribbean It is estimated that Caribbean countries suffer annual storm damages equivalent to 17% of GDP on average, with damages often well exceeding the size of the economy – Hurricane Maria is estimated to have cost Dominica 225% of its GDP in 2017.3 Natural disasters occur more frequently and cost more on average in the Caribbean than anywhere else (see Fig 1),4 and are compounded by economic reliance on climate-sensitive industries including agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. As such, the Caribbean consistently ranks as one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change and is prioritizing adaptation measures and infrastructure that may reduce the costs of climate-related disasters and build resilience to future shocks.