On 21-23 February 2018, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) is hosting Energizing the 2030 Agenda in Bangkok, Thailand.
Recognizing the importance of energy for sustainable development, the 2030 Agenda has established the Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), the first-ever universal goal on energy, with five targets on access, efficiency, renewables and means of implementation. SDG7 represents a significant milestone, especially since the Millennium Development Goals from 2000 did not include an energy goal. Energy is – for the first time – recognized as a core part of the global sustainable development agenda of the United Nations system. The ambition of the 2030 Agenda, including the goal and targets on energy, calls for equally ambitious means of implementation, including enabling environments, effective institutions, technology transfer, capacity building, scaled-up financing and multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve sustainable development.
The aim of the Global SDG7 Conference is to prepare substantive input on review of SDG7 during the High-Level Political Forum in 2018. It intends to facilitate exchange of lessons, insights and experiences to-date among member states and all stakeholders and consider challenges and opportunities for furthering progress towards 2030. More specifically, it will provide an opportunity for participants to discuss:
- Trends and gaps toward the achievement of SDG7;
- Interlinkages between SDG7 and other SDGs;
- Means of implementation, including finance, capacity building and innovation;
- Key areas of opportunities for action by policy makers and all stakeholders on achieving SDG7 and leveraging its interlinkages with other SDGs in support of the 2030 Agenda.