The energy crisis sparked by Russia-Ukraine war continues to have a profound impact on people all around the world, International Energy Agency said.

Access to electricity is indeed a global challenge, especially in developing regions. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), as of 2020, approximately 759 million people worldwide did not have access to electricity. However, significant progress has been made in recent years, and the number of people without access to electricity has been decreasing.

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. This includes expanding access to electricity in areas that currently lack it. Many organizations, governments, and initiatives are working towards this goal by implementing various strategies, such as promoting renewable energy sources, improving energy infrastructure, and supporting electrification projects in underserved areas.

While it is difficult to predict exact numbers for the future, achieving universal access to electricity by 2030 will require sustained efforts and investments. Governments, international organizations, and private sector entities continue to collaborate to address this issue and improve energy access for millions of people worldwide.

New Delhi: A new report by five international organisations on Tuesday said that about 67.5 crore people in the world don't have access to electricity and that at current rates, around 66 crore people around the globe are projected to be without access to power by 2030. The report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO) also said that up to 230 crore people in the world are still using polluting fuels to cook and that 190 crore people won't have clean cooking opportunities by 2030, which is the target date to achieve a United Nations goal set in 2015 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

The report also found that mounting debt and rising energy prices are worsening the outlook for reaching universal access to clean cooking and electricity. 

"Current projections estimate that 190 crore people will be without clean cooking and 66 crore without electricity access in 2030 if we do not take further action and continue with current efforts," the report said, adding that these gaps will 'negatively' impact the health of the most vulnerable populations and accelerate climate change. 

According to WHO, 3.2 million people die each year from illness caused by the use of polluting fuels and technologies, which increase exposure to toxic levels of household air pollution, the report added.

"The energy crisis sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to have a profound impact on people all around the world. High energy prices have hit the most vulnerable hard, particularly those in developing economies," Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, said.

While the clean energy transition is moving faster than many think, there is still a great deal of work needed to deliver sustainable, secure and affordable access to modern energy services for the billions of people who live without it, he added. 

Key findings of the report

In 2010, 84% of the world’s population had access to electricity. This increased to 91% in 2021, meaning more than a billion people gained access over that period. However, the growth pace of access slowed in 2019–2021 compared to previous years. Rural electrification efforts contributed to this progress, but a large gap within urban areas remains.

 In 2021, 567 million people in sub-Saharan Africa did not have access to electricity, accounting for more than 80% of the global population without access. The access deficit in the region stayed almost the same as in 2010.

 The world remains off track to achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. Up to 2.3 billion people still use polluting fuels and technologies for cooking, largely in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The use of traditional biomass also means households spend up to 40 hours a week gathering firewood and cooking, which prohibits women from pursuing employment or participating in local decision-making bodies and children from going to school.

 According to the 2019 WHO estimates, 3.2 million premature deaths each year were attributable to household air pollution created by using polluting fuels and technologies for cooking.

 Renewable electricity use in global consumption has grown from 26.3% in 2019 to 28.2% in 2020, the largest single-year increase since the start of tracking progress for the SDGs.

 Efforts to increase renewables’ share in heating and transport, which represent more than three quarters of global energy consumption, remain off target to achieve 1.5oC climate objectives.

 Energy intensity – the measure of how much energy the global economy uses per dollar of GDP – improved from 2010 to 2020 by 1.8% annually. This is higher than the 1.2% improvement from the previous decades.

 However, the rate of energy intensity improvement has slowed in recent years and dropped to 0.6% in 2020. This makes it the worst year for energy intensity improvement since the global financial crisis, albeit largely due to pandemic-related restrictions, which may indicate only a temporary setback. Annual improvements through 2030 must now average 3.4% to meet the SDG target 7.3.

 International public financial flows in support of clean energy in developing countries stand at US$ 10.8 billion in 2021, 35% less than the 2010–2019 average and only about 40% of the 2017 peak of US$ 26.4 billion. In 2021, 19 countries received 80% of the commitments.