The United Nations, UN says finance commitments under its Energy Compacts have reached $1.6 trillion, with $284 billion already mobilized towards achieving global goals on renewable energy and clean cooking technologies.
This was contained in the Energy Compacts Annual Progress Report, launched on Thursday at the EnergyNow SDG7 Action Forum on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The report, shows expanding action under the Energy Compact voluntary commitments on both energy access and transition.
According to the report, “of the $284 billion mobilized or deployed since 2021 through the Compacts, the majority has been private sector investment in renewable power generation.”
Figures from the 2025 Tracking SDG7 reports that over $4 trillion total investment is needed annually to reduce the ranks of 660 million people living without electricity and over 2 billion still cooking with polluting fuels, while setting the world on a climate action trajectory towards net-zero emissions by 2050 and averting ever-worsening climate impacts.
“The world is entering a decisive moment for energy,” the leadership of UN-Energy — Haoliang Xu, Acting Administrator of UNDP and Co-Chair of UN-Energy; Damilola Ogunbiyi, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy; and Li Junhua, Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which serves as the Secretariat for UN-Energy, stated.
“Choices made today will determine not only whether we achieve our climate and development goals, but also how future generations experience prosperity, equity, and security,”
“The Energy Compacts are proving that transformation is possible and that solutions to advance the global energy transition are no longer abstract — they are investment-ready and being scaled, adapted, and delivered.” the three UN-Energy leaders added.
Energy Transition
Expanding results on energy transition and access
progress on achieving affordable and clean energy for all — Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 — has been moving forward, but not at the scale and pace needed to meet the deadline of the 2030 Agenda or the climate targets under the Paris Agreement.
The Energy Compacts progress report outlines commitments from governments and the private sector, which include planned spending by countries for both domestic and international action to increase energy access, efficiency and renewables, as well as private sector investment slated in these areas.
Since the Energy Compacts were launched in 2021– in connection with the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy — 209, commitments have been registered and substantial results generated, according to the report.
By providing new and improved electricity connections, Energy Compact proponents have enhanced electricity access for 285 million people, a significant increase of 108 million people in the past year.
The latest Tracking SDG7 Report showed that population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to outpace access gains, leaving approximately 14 million additional people without clean cooking solutions every year.
Updated figures also show how Energy Compacts have had positive impacts on a wide range of SDG goals, such as improving electricity access at over 10,400 health facilities (SDG3), and by helping to deploy over 2.8 million electric vehicles and over 336,000 charging stations (SDG11).
The report included guidance on how national governments, regions and cities, private companies, financial institutions, UN agencies and civil society organizations can submit their own Energy Compact commitments through an online process.
The report noted that, as countries roll out their updated national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, incorporating energy targets through national Energy Compacts can serve as an important tool, citing Indonesia and Nepal as examples.
The report was prepared by UN-Energy, the coordination mechanism which includes nearly 30 UN and international organizations that work on energy issues, with data compiled and analysed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).
PR/Olusola Akintonde