Four major energy companies—BP, Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies—announced today that they have collectively committed $500 million to accelerate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (UN SDG7), which aims for universal access to safe, affordable, reliable, and modern energy by 2030. These four companies will aim to close the gaps in energy supply in less served regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia by strengthening access to electricity and clean cooking solutions.
The Challenge
International cooperation has been steady in boosting energy access, but progress has stalled over the past two years. In 2022, an estimated 10 million more people joined the ranks of those without electricity, reaching a total of 685 million worldwide. Another 2.1 billion people, largely in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, do not yet have access to clean cooking facilities, which negatively impacts health and gender equity.
This inadequacy disproportionately falls on the shoulders of women and girls, most of whom do household energy uses. Heavy reliance on traditional cooking machinery perpetuates indoor air pollution, contributing to health-related problems in these areas.
The Programme
The $500 million will be put into high-impact energy programs; among them is:
Solar home systems that offer off-grid electricity.
Mini and metro grids that will enable sustainable energy delivery in the rural areas.
Clean cooking solutions that substitute for polluting sources such as wood and charcoal
Enabling technologies, which include energy storage and e-mobility solutions.
The fund will be managed by a premier global private equity firm specializing in impact investing. Investments are expected to have double benefits: positive social impact and financial returns. Governments, international organizations, financial institutions, civil society, and philanthropies will collaborate with each other across market barriers, create a community of practice, and leverage scaling solutions.
Focus Regions
The program will target areas that have more serious energy deficit challenges, the Sub-Saharan Africa region;
Where more than half of its population lacks electricity or clean cooking facilities.
South Asia Countries such as India face even greater problems in holding up energy access outside fairly centralizing urban/industrial regions.
Southeast Asia Will focus efforts on the growth of clean energy options for rural and underserved communities.
These are focal areas of activity for global energy equity and reducing reliance on traditional, polluting energy sources.
Company Initiatives
Each of the energy majors has specific areas of focus and specialty that they will bring to bear to this initiative:
TotalEnergies will commit US$ 400 million to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) infrastructure in Africa and India to offer clean cooking fuels for potentially 100 million people.
BP, Shell and Equinor is focusing on solar, mini-grid projects and energy storage technologies to build access to electricity in off-grid locations.
Together, the firms have set a target to pool their resources and influence in securing other partners while multiplying the impact of the programme.
Objectives and Outcomes
The program complements the universal ambitions to foster sustainable development through
Access electricity to more people
Decrease utilization of biomass for cooking, among other traditional methods.
It will provide co-benefits such as the creation of jobs, health effects and lowered greenhouse gas emissions.
The corporations claim this is supposed to be the project that will help in completing and meeting the UN SDG7 and other objectives related to gender equality, improved health outcomes, and climate action.
Future Prospects
Such collaborations between BP, Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies highlight the increasing call upon public-private relationships to address complex challenges about globalization, such as improved energy access. These companies will collectively pool their resources and expertise to ensure measurable impacts in the reduction of deficits in energy for these underserved regions.
Implementations would become a decisive factor for success if needs were met regionwide and sectors were galvanized on their own for barriers to break in scaling clean energy solutions.
Source: official BP, Equinor, Shell, TotalEnergies and reports from the UN SDG7.