The contribution of renewable energy to

the Sustainable Development Goals

12th Meeting of the Council

2 November 2016

1

Background

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- Energy and the Millennium Development Goals

- Sustainable Energy for All Initiative

- SDG 7: “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for

all”

- Emergence of renewable energy as a key solution: clean, increasingly cost

competitive, widespread and abundant, modular, and creating a range of socio-

economic benefits.

- The next step is to understand and identify the cross-cutting impact of renewable

energy as key dimension of Sustainable Development.

Human development

Environmental sustainability

Sustainable growth

Energy and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Articulating the link between SDG 7 and the other SDGs is essential to

maximise development co-benefits.

Renewables and Environmental Sustainability

Global Impacts - Climate Change

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Renewables and Environmental Sustainability

Local impacts

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CATALYST FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN CITIES

IMPROVED AIR QUALITY IN RURAL CONTEXTS

Improved

cookstovesSolar power for

household uses

Electrification of

transportLocalised power

generationHeating and cooling

POWERING HEALTH FACILITIES

Renewables and Human DevelopmentHealth and the Food Chain

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FOOD CHAIN

Irrigation

Solar pumping

Agro-processing

Improved water millAgro-processing

Food drying

% of district hospitals without reliable electricity – Sub-Saharan Africa

Renewables and Human Development

Productive Uses

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PRODUCTIVE USES

Cottage industry Refrigerating

Retail Phone Charging

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ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF RENEWABLES

• Doubling the share of renewables in the global energy mix by 2030would increase GDP.

• Even greater improvement in welfare – which entails not only economic,but also environmental and social benefits

Renewables and Sustainable Growth

Economic Benefits

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REthinking Energy 2017

IN FOCUS: Renewable Energy contribution to SDGs

2017

How can renewable energy help countries and communities maximise sustainable

development outcomes and growth?

Considering the cross-cutting nature of renewable energy, how are countries

integrating various SDGs in their implementation strategies?

How can IRENA support these efforts, in particular to address interlinkages between

renewables and other SDGs?

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Questions for discussion