Power

Ensure energy access and a just and equitable transition for all

Too many of the world's poorest communities have been negatively impacted by fossil fuel power or have not been provided energy access. The transition of the world’s energy systems toward decarbonized, highly electrified models must benefit all people equitably. This means achieving the Paris Agreement alongside the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

It is vital to distribute the benefits and costs of the transition equitably to reduce gaps in access rather than exacerbate them. Justice and equity are relevant both as end goals and as part of the transition process itself.

For example, many clean energy technologies, such as solar and wind, require substantial minerals. Mining has many social and environmental impacts, and it is important to ensure that obtaining these minerals does not further pollute communities already suffering from poverty and pollution.

Universal access to electricity, both physically and in an affordable manner, is indispensable for an equitable and just transition.

There has been significant global progress on reducing energy inequality. Since 2000, around 30 million additional people have gained access to electricity every year. Yet, as of 2021, there were 675 million people without access to electricity, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2022, around the world, energy prices soared due to inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, raising concerns that even more people may be pushed into energy poverty. 

A key benefit of the energy transition is the creation of livelihoods, usually measured in terms of employment. There were almost 13 million renewable energy jobs in 2021, and there is the potential for the creation of 43 million jobs by 2050. 

These new jobs provide the opportunity for increased gender equality in the energy industry, which has been historically male-dominated. Women comprised 32% of the renewable energy workforce in 2019, as compared to 22% of jobs in the oil and gas industry in 2017. While this is not a significant change, there are additional opportunities in the renewable energy industry to increase women’s participation.

At the international level, finance flows provide a good indicator of whether developed countries are helping support developing countries in their transitions. Tracking the relative foreign direct investment in clean energy, flowing from developed to developing countries, indicates how public climate pledges translate into private sector action. It also shows which countries are capturing most of the investment — and benefits — of the clean energy transition.

Data Insights

Is the world making enough progress toward the most important outcomes?

Systems Change Lab assesses progress made toward targets across 5 outcome indicators. Click a chart to explore the data.

What factors may enable or prevent change?

Systems Change Lab identifies 3 enablers and barriers that may help spur or impede change. Click a chart to explore the data.

Progress toward targets

Systems Change Lab tracks progress made toward targets across 5 outcome indicators. outcome indicator. Explore the data and learn about key actions supporting systems change.

Population without access to electricity

The number of people without access to electricity has dropped swiftly over the past two decades, reaching 675 million in 2021. To achieve universal electricity access by 2030, current efforts will need to accelerate by 1.6x.

No energy transition will be just and equitable without universal access to electricity.

The number of people without access to electricity has dropped steadily over the past two decades, from 1.3 billion in 2000 to 675 million in 2021. The population still without access remains mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2018 and 2020, approximately 57 million people globally gained access to electricity.

To reach universal access to electricity by 2030, the rate at which populations gain access will have to increase significantly: the number of people without access to electricity should decline about 1.6x faster than it has in the last five years.

Share of household income spent on electricity

A key measure of energy affordability is the share of household income spent on electricity. The Multi-Tier Framework, a global tool that measures the quality of electricity access, establishes an affordability guideline of less than 5% of household income for 365 kilowatts per year.

A key measure of energy affordability is the share of household income spent on electricity. The Multi-Tier Framework, a global tool that measures the quality of electricity access, establishes an affordability guideline of less than 5% of household income for 365 kilowatts (kW) per year. Currently, there are no global datasets available for this indicator.

Although income-based metrics are well accepted indicators of energy affordability, they do not capture other forms of household energy poverty, such as reduced consumption or the inability to consume energy at a desired level. These forms of energy poverty may be revealed by other newly developed indicators, such as the energy equity gap, though these require real time consumption data not yet available in most countries.

Share of women in the renewable energy workforce

Renewable energy industry has more women in its workforce than traditional energy, as women comprised 32% of the renewable workforce in 2018. Much remains to be done to increase participation, improve career prospects and reduce gender discrimination.

Historically, energy has been a male-dominated industry. In 2017, the estimated share of women in the global oil and gas industry workforce was just 22%. As the number of renewable energy jobs grows, however, there will be opportunities to improve the gender balance.

Women’s participation is currently uneven across renewable technologies; for example, in wind power, women account for only 21% of the workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a negative impact on gender equity in the renewable energy industry.

As a whole, however, the renewable energy industry has more women in its workforce than traditional energy, and women comprised 32% of the renewable workforce in 2018. Still, much remains to be done to increase participation, improve career prospects and reduce gender discrimination.

While there is no precise target for this indicator, it would be preferable if the share of women in the renewable energy industry reflected the gender distribution in broader society.

Average electricity outage duration per customer by country

Even if households have access to electricity, it does not always mean they have consistent and reliable access. Average electricity outage durations have decreased from 3.2 hours per customer in 2015 to 2 hours in 2020, but this varies greatly from country to country and region to region.

A successful clean energy transition involves not only meeting the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, but also realizing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. This means delivering universal electricity access around the clock for all people. Yet, there were 675 million people without access to electricity in 2021, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Even if households have access to electricity, it does not always mean they have consistent and reliable access. This indicator tracks the average duration of electricity service outages by country. In other words, the average number of hours consumers are left without electricity during each outage period. Since 2015, average outage durations have decreased from 3.2 hours per customer to 2 hours in 2020. As of 2020, outages are longest in sub-Saharan Africa, states experiencing conflict such as Iraq, and developing island countries such as Papua New Guinea. Outages are shortest in high-income countries such as the United States, Singapore and much of Europe, and also in China and Russia.

In addition to providing access to electricity, it is essential for countries to ensure that access is consistent and reliable. To this end, investments in reliability that are consistent with a 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) pathway are essential and may look different from country to country. Solutions could include short- and long-duration storage technologies, investments in grid infrastructure, demand management, or other options to balance supply and demand without emitting carbon dioxide.

Average frequency of electricity outages per customer by country

Even if households have access to electricity, it does not always mean they have consistent and reliable access. The average number of times customers have lost electricity service has decreased from 2 times per year in 2015 to 1.6 times in 2020, but this varies greatly from country to country and region to region.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 7 lays out the ambitions of universal electricity access. This means 24-hour access to power for all. However, there remained 675 million people without access to electricity as of 2021, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Even if households have access to electricity, it does not always mean they have consistent and reliable access. This indicator tracks the average frequency of electricity service outages per customer by country. In other words, the number of times each year consumers are left without electricity. Average outage frequencies have decreased from 2 times per year in 2015 to 1.6 times in 2020. Data is unavailable for much of Africa and several Pacific islands in Oceania, but among countries for which data exists, outages are most frequent in Niger (288 times per year), Guyana (106), Pakistan (81.6), Uganda (49.8) and Tanzania (46.8). Outages are least frequent in Russia (0.1), Singapore (0.1), China (0.2), France (0.3) and the United States (0.4).

In addition to providing access to electricity, it is essential for countries to ensure that access is consistent and reliable. To this end, investments in reliability that are consistent with a 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) pathway are essential and may look different from country to country. Solutions could include short- and long-duration storage technologies, investments in grid infrastructure, demand management, or other options to balance supply and demand without emitting carbon dioxide.

Enablers and barriers

We also monitor change by tracking a critical set of 3 enablers and barriers enabler or barrier that can help spur or impede change. Explore the data and learn about key actions supporting systems change.

Percent of public expenditure available to implement financial support and professional conversion programs

Government interventions that favor workers currently or formerly employed in declining industries — such as electricity generation from fossil fuels or other gas and oil transformations — are the key components of a just transition.

Government interventions that favor workers currently or formerly employed in declining industries — such as electricity generation from fossil fuels, or other gas and oil transformations — are the key components of a just transition.

Some active labor market policies (ALMPs) aim to reduce the risk of unemployment by expanding and adapting the skills of people seeking employment. Building on existing skills to create skills that are suitable for new jobs is one way to match demand and supply in the labor market and protect workers against the risk of unemployment.

Governments spend a variable amount on ALMPs, which can increase in times of adverse shocks. Between 2000 and 2010, spending on ALMPs as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) increased in some countries, including, for example, from 0.16 to 0.57% in Brazil, from 0.05 to 0.43% in Argentina and from 0.2 to 0.45% in Chile. There is currently no comprehensive global data on the percent of public expenditure available to implement these programs. Efforts to display this data would require collection from individual countries.

Number of countries with strong electrification plans

Electrification will be critical for decarbonizing key sectors such as transport, heating and industry.

Electrification refers to transitioning technologies that use fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) to technologies that use electricity for their primary energy demand. It will be a vital process in key sectors such as transport, heating and industry. More importantly, without electrification, it may not be possible to decarbonize those critical sectors, creating further barriers to achieving the global net-zero targets.

It is essential that countries put plans in place to electrify demands across critical national infrastructure systems. In 2010, 85 countries had strong electrification strategies; that number rose to 111 by 2021.

It is important to note that having such plans does not guarantee the successful implementation of an electrification strategy. Instead, this indicator serves as a signal of national decarbonization priorities. Countries need to follow up on these plans with robust targets and policy actions. For example, several countries have offered incentives to consumers to purchase electric vehicles, which has contributed to the displacement of fossil fuel powered vehicles.

Number of human rights allegations in critical minerals mining

The Transitions Minerals Tracker tracks allegations of human rights abuses related to mining projects and recorded 91 alleged violations in 2023.

The clean energy transition is expected to bring a massive increase in the use and mining of critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, lithium, nickel, zinc and rare earths. It is estimated that under a net-zero scenario, the market for critical minerals will need to triple from 2023 to 2030.

Human rights violations related to mining projects in general and critical mineral mining in particular are well documented.

The Transitions Minerals Tracker surveys publicly reported allegations of human rights abuses in the mining of lithium, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, bauxite and nickel. It records allegations against 65 indicators grouped in six categories: environmental impacts, impacts on the local community (including attacks against civil society organizations), impacts on workers, governance and transparency, security issues and conflict zones, and issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The database noted just 10 allegations in 2010, but that number has grown as mining for critical minerals has increased. There were 91 recorded allegations in 2023.

The number of allegations of human rights violations in critical mineral extraction is one indicator of equity during the energy transition. Similar indicators focusing on one or more clean energy technologies also exist, but this is considered a better proxy because critical minerals are required for most clean energy technologies.

As the energy transition unfolds, progress on this indicator will be measured by a decreasing number of new allegations of human rights violations.