Global Launch: Tracking SDG7 – The Energy Progress Report & SDG7 Policy Briefs

Date: Monday 7^th June
Time: 08:00-10:00 EDT (14:00-16:00 CEST)
Venue: Webex Webinar
Link to the webinar: https://undesa.webex.com/undesa/j.php?MTID=mfb89b9306783da0a35f5d30d96a4add4 
Meeting ID: 172 425 4878
Meeting password: Meet1234

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.

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.

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 multistakeholder 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 SecretaryGeneral for Sustainable Energy for All, Co-Chair of UN-Energy, and CoChair 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 CoChair 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
• Mrs 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