Mobilizing Energy Action: The High-level Dialogue on Energy and its Impacts

On 24 September 2021, more than 130 global leaders, including Heads of State and Government, Ministers, Executive Heads of UN entities and international organizations, CEOs and other multi-stakeholder representatives, joined the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE), announcing ambitious targets, transformational actions and bold investments towards achieving universal energy access and net-zero emissions.

The first leader-level meeting on energy under the auspices of the UN General Assembly in 40 years, the Dialogue aimed to boost efforts to provide energy access by 2030 to the nearly 760 million people who live without electricity and the 2.6 billion people who lack access to clean cooking solutions, while setting the world on a trajectory towards net-zero emissions by 2050.

One of the main outcomes of the Dialogue was the first-ever global roadmap for accelerating the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – affordable, sustainable, reliable and modern energy for all. The roadmap presents a clear strategy for achieving universal energy access and accelerated energy transition by 2030, including a set of concrete and practical milestones.

In support of these objectives, more than USD 400 billion in new finance and investment was committed by governments and the private sector in the form of Energy Compacts announced during the Dialogue and multi-stakeholder Energy Action pre-events on 22 and 23 September. The commitments aim to provide hundreds of millions of people with clean energy access and speed up energy transition while creating green jobs to leave no one behind.

While the commitments announced were a significant step forward, participants acknowledged that far more is needed to address energy poverty and the decarbonization of energy systems. 

SEforALL was playing a key role in the planning and organization of the High-level Dialogue, including the development of new ‘Energy Compacts’ that will allow governments, business and other stakeholders to sign up to specific voluntary targets and initiatives in support of SDG7.