Webinar: Tracking SDG 7:
The Energy Progress Report

Global Launch event (Webex link)
Monday, 7 June, 8-10am EDT (New York time)

Hosted by the Group of Friends of Sustainable Energy, this year’s joint launch event of the SDG7 Tracking Report and the SDG7 Policy Briefs is intended to inform the discussions in support of the High-level Political Forum in July, the High-level Dialogue on Energy in September, the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs, and the implementation of the UN Decade of Sustainable Energy for All 2014-2024.

Sustainable Development Goal 7 – ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all – holds a unique position in the nexus between the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. Ensuring universal access is necessary for creating sustainable economic growth and development. Failure to transition to sustainable energy systems will jeopardize the fight against climate change and threaten human well-being and economies for decades.

However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has further derailed the global efforts to get on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030, including SDG7. Meanwhile, the average global temperature has already risen to 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. We must dramatically step up the pace of implementation to create a more resilient and sustainable world.

Published annually, Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report provides the most comprehensive look available at the world’s progress towards global energy targets on access to electricity, clean cooking, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Prepared by the SDG7 Indicator Custodian Agencies – the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) at UN DESA, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO) – this year’s report gives the international community the latest global dashboard to register progress on the SDG7 targets.

For the fourth time, a series of Policy Briefs on SDG7 has been compiled by the multi-stakeholder SDG7 Technical Advisory Group, composed of experts from governments, UN organisations, International Organisations and other stakeholders, convened by DESA, in support of the High-Level Political Forum. This year, the Policy Briefs provide a special focus on the interlinkages of SDG7 with all other SDGs.

Draft Agenda
8:00 – 8:02 a.m. Introduction by Moderator:
Mr. Alexander Trepelkov, Officer-in-Charge of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG), UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
8:02 – 8:10 a.m. Welcome by the Group of Friends of Sustainable Energy
H.E. Mr. Munir Akram, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations
H.E. Mr. Odd-Inge Kvalheim, Chargé d’Affaires, Permanent Representation of Norway to the United Nations
8:10 – 8:30 a.m. Special Remarks
Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Chair of the 2021 Tracking SDG7: Energy Progress Report, Secretary-General for the High-level Dialogue on Energy
Ms. Damilola Ogunbiyi, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Co-Chair of UN-Energy, and Co-Chair and High-level Champion of the High-level Dialogue on Energy (video message)
Mr. Haoliang Xu, Assistant-Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP (on behalf of Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP, Co-Chair of UN-Energy and Co-Chair of the High-level Dialogue on Energy)
8:30 – 9:05 a.m. Global Launch: Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report. A Joint Report of the SDG7 Indicator Custodian Agencies
Keynote presentation on behalf of the five Custodian agency representatives by:
Mr. Stefan Schweinfest, Director of the Statistics Division (UNSD), DESA
Video on the Energy Progress Report
Presentations by:
Mr. Demetrios Papathanasiou, Global Director, Energy & Extractives, World Bank
Mr. Maria Neira, Director, Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of Health Department (PHE) World Health Organisation
Mr. Rabia Ferroukhi, Director, Knowledge, Policy and Finance Centre, International Renewable Energy Agency
Ms. Mechthild Wörsdörfer, Director, Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks
9:05 – 9:25 a.m. Global Launch: SDG7 Policy Briefs – Leveraging Energy Action for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals
Presentation of SDG7 Policy Briefs: SDG7 TAG Co-Facilitators
Ms. Sheila Oparaocha, Executive Director, ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy, Co-facilitator of the SDG 7 Technical Advisory Group
Mr. Hans Olav Ibrekk, Policy Director, Section for Energy and Climate Change, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Co-facilitator of the SDG 7 Technical Advisory Group
9:25 – 9:50 a.m. Interactive Discussion: Open for interventions from Member States
9:50 – 10.00 a.m. Closing remarks by the Group of Friends of Sustainable Energy
H.E. Mr. Taye Atske Selassie Amde, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations
H.E. Mr. Martin Bille Hermann, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations

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