Sustainable Energy for All Forum Opens With Focus to Leave No One Behind in Energy Transition

LISBON, Portugal, May 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Ministers, business leaders, investors and civil society gather to call for faster progress to achieve universal energy access

The Sustainable Energy for All Forum opened today in Portugal with the urge to global leaders that more can be done to ensure no one is left behind in an energy transition focused on delivering Sustainable Development Goal 7.

Hosted by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the Forum is addressing the key challenges in delivering universal energy access to the billion people globally who are still living without basic modern energy services, including electricity and clean cooking access.

Speaking via video message, UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said: "One billion people still lack electricity. Far more needs to be done to advance renewable and efficient energy in all sectors. From industries to transportation, from cities to rural areas… Let us invest in the future, not the past."

To underpin the urgency needed in addressing the energy access gap, the Forum was the launch platform for the new Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report - a global stock-take on data showcasing progress towards energy goals. The report, which assesses renewable energy, energy efficiency and access to clean cooking and electricity, shows the world will not meet 2030 energy targets at the current rate of progress; however certain countries or trends show progress is being made where political leadership and finance is prioritized.

Rachel Kyte, CEO of SEforALL, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, called on the Forum to use this latest data as a reality check of the challenge ahead. "The world has committed to leave no one behind. Every year of delay in providing energy access is a lost opportunity for millions of children and their families. Countries cannot afford to leave entire generations behind when there are solutions that deliver affordable, clean energy services today."

The SEforALL Forum is bringing together over 800 participants from nearly 100 countries, with Minsiters, CEO's, investors and civil society leaders.

Watch the livestream online on the Forum website: http://www.SEforALLforum.org .

Sustainable Energy for All empowers leaders to broker partnerships and unlock finance to achieve universal access to sustainable energy, as a contribution to a cleaner, just and prosperous world for all. http://www.SEforALL.org