New Delhi: A joint report prepared by organisations including the World Bank and World Health Organisation (WHO) has observed that the world is not on track to achieve sustainable energy-related goals set by the UN in 2015.
It also studies India’s progress towards the achievement of these goals, which is a mix of steps forward and back.
As for its positive achievements, the report says that India:
1. Saw the largest annual decrease in the number of people who don’t have access to electricity, with 28 million people per year between 2010 and 2020 gaining access
2. Although has the largest number of people without access to clean cooking, saw the largest increase in access between 2016 and 2020
3. Doubled the renewable energy it uses for transport between 2014 and 2020
4. Is expected to increase the percentage of its people that have access to clean cooking solutions to 81% by 2030
However, on its failures to reach these goals, the report talks about how India:
1. Was responsible for the world’s second-largest increase in consumption of non-renewable electricity, and offset progress made by other countries in moving towards renewable alternatives
2. Tried to make clean cooking solutions like LPG affordable, but had to increase fuel tax and cut back on subsidies due to fiscal burdens dating from before the pandemic
Also Read: Domestic LPG Cylinder Price Pushed Up by Rs 50 for a Second Time in 2022
The report is titled Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2022 and is prepared by the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank and the WHO.
Sustainable development goal (SDG) 7 is one of 17 such goals set by the UN in 2015 as part of a world vision and aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” by 2030.
“There has been some progress on specific elements of the SDG 7 agenda … but [it] is insufficient to reach the targets set forth in the SDGs,” a press release by the organisations behind the report warned on Tuesday, June 6.