Critical Analysis Of Energy's Role In Sustainable Development Goals: An Essay.

Write a short essay to critically analyse the role of energy in the Sustainable Development Goals. Identify the main issues that may arise in achieving SDGs that are relevant to energy (i.e. SDG 7 and other SDGs where energy is relevant) and suggest any possible solutions to the issues.

Energy is at the core of several sustainable development goals which range from intensifying accessibility to electricity, improving clean cooking fuels and reducing the number of inefficient energy subsidies which impulsively kills millions around the world every year. Since the past three years, all nations of the world have approved around 17 purposeful policy goals to eradicate poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity as a significant part of the United Nations Sustainable Development agenda and declared to attain specific target by 2030 (1). One of these goals universally identified as SDG 7 intends to ascertain high level access to reasonable, consistent and modern energy for all the nations by the end of the next decade. The paper will evaluate the role of power in Sustainable Development Goals and challenges in obtaining efficiency from the SDG 7.

The implementation of energy precise sustainable development goals had been recognised as a landmark in progress in the world towards an advanced sustainable as soon as an equitable system. The International Energy Agency (IEA) however continues to support these essential goals with balanced data and projections. It is highly evident that the energy division must be positioned at the interior of efforts to guide the world on a greater sustainable path (2). However, according to reports by the Iea.org, there has been witnessed an extensive development in bringing widespread electricity access SDG 7.1.1 in parts of Asia as well as sub-Saharan Africa. Byers et al. (2015) have noted that these areas observe many people without proper accessibility which in recent times has been diminishing to 1.1 billion in 2016 from 1.8 billion in 2000 (3). However, by the latest developments, it has been noticed that over 781 people have been anticipated to be losing the accessibility of electricity into 2030.

According to Malak and El-Beltagy (2014), ensuring the marginalised section of the world with the smooth accessibility of affordable reliable as well as contemporary energy services facilitates the goal of poverty abolition (4). Furthermore, de-carbonizing energy systems by economically promoting renewable and stimulating effectiveness could be consequential in price shocks if the outflow of change to a low carbon saving is not safeguarded in certain ways. This, however, could avert collective energy accessibility as a higher level of energy prices would create critical impediments in recovering the yardstick of living for the world economically underprivileged sections. Thus investment expenditure for several small-scale renewable power skills such as domestic solar photovoltaic systems has been witnessed to reduce at a considerable rate in recent times. In some areas, it is also regarded as a cost-effective power supply choice. However if skill, innovation development tends to persist in renewable electricity production will turn into more lucrative in more significant number of regions. This, however, could facilitate financially deprived communities with high rate of electricity broadcast access to utilise limited fresh energy resources thus allocating revenue generation.

On the other hand, Chaturvedi and Shukla (2014) are of the perspective that some of the polar regions of the world have maximum value renewable energy supplies such as biomass and solar energy in Africa (5). However significant development in utilising these potentials might aid in reducing financial deficiency as long as the advantages accumulate to local providers. The SDG 7 goals are openly associated with getting principal reductions in air pollution.

Challenges in Attaining SDG 7

Furthermore, enhancing the value of air by increasing human health is explicitly vital for those living in crowded urban regions of both developed as well as fast developing nations. Anenberg et al. (2013) have noted that as thermal comfort such as heating and cooling as well as cooking is necessary to high-quality health, it focuses on ensuring smooth ease of access of reasonable and consistent energy. Energy efficient appliances utilisation such as clean cookstoves is also regarded as necessary in enhancing internal air quality (6). Thus the role of power is highly crucial for refrigeration which adds to important food preservation as well as the supply chain and facilitates in mitigating health hazards related to bacterial contamination. According to the Abas, Kalair and Khan (2015), access to energy with further expand the broad area of opportunities for women such as facilitating them to work from home and produce a self-regulative source of income. Applying renewable along with energy competent technologies can stimulate modernisation and strengthen local, regional as well as nationwide business and service goals (7).

However, in the view of Abas, Kalair and Khan (2015), active strategies would necessitate reducing the unconstructive effects of an outsized scale shift towards renewable power on the ones presently functioning in the fossil fuels segment. However, reinforced migration may also be required as fossil fuels expansion has been incredibly intense where renewable energy developments are located across a broad range of geographic districts. Thus to maintain clean energy efforts reinforced fiscal agencies all over the world are essential for supplying financial aid, acclaim and assurance to local entrepreneurs who are putting significant efforts in enacting change. As Huenteler et al. (2016) have witnessed that de-carbonising energy systems through the process of upskilling renewable as well as energy efficiency could easily curb the economic growth of countries (8). Nevertheless, a robust derivation decoupled from environmental deprivation and occupation development from supporting and sustaining renewable power along with energy efficiency knowledge could balance a higher rate of economic expenses related to this development. Though higher energy expenses make greater energy efficiency associated job creation, de-carbonising fossil fuel supported energy sources by innovation such as carbon detain along with storage can elevate the stipulation for a skilled workforce and further generate higher profitable growth. However, these critical objectives of SDG 7 can be challenged by certain impediments in obtaining affordable and clean energy.

The significant connections between SDG 7 and SDG 1 focus on targets 1.4 and 1.5. However, access to contemporary energy form such as power, clean cooking stoves along with sustainable fuels in 7.1 is regarded to be vital for human development. Such energy value relies on energy services which are made feasible by current energy forms which can offer unyielding institution for mitigating financial deficiency issues mainly in the poorest sections of the developing countries such as the rural and metropolitan communities in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (9). Further to this, de-carbonisation of the global energy system through a significant upscaling of renewable in 7.2 along with Energy Efficiency 7.3 efforts are highly needed to radically reduce GHG emissions. However such actions are considered to be inevitable if the experience of the poor sections of the world to increase other environmental calamities is to be considerably abridged. However, the essentials uncertainties in obtaining these objectives lie on the level of local skills and expertise on technological and business domain which will survive within the individual communities in the next 10 to 15 years (10). These local skills will primarily focus on the capacity to guarantee the adequacy of energy accessibility provisions along with significant reliability and affordability.

Furthermore, according to Abas, Kalair and Khan (2015), there can be witnessed an uncertain traditional food system which can be mechanised. In addition to this critical uncertainties lie on what implications would the utilisation of the energy of the efficient food systems would bring such as food conversation through various energy-related procedures and refrigeration at the domestic level. On the other hand, the author has shed light on other significant forms of uncertainties about the type of indirect land uses development will impact which might elevate through the deployment of bio-energy in a specific country context. Such land usage signifies the kinds of farming lands throughout the world which are transformed to other objectives to respond to the altering food and harvest prices. Furthermore, SDG 7 aims for energy-saving methods such as incorporated transportation along with urban development strategies which encourage active travel. These urban planning approaches result to improve health and welfare along with lower rates of diabetes dementia, heart illness or other forms of diseases. However, Martinot (2016) claims that if the provided urban planning infrastructure poses disturbing implications the elevated rate of active travel could raise a specific threat of death and damages from road traffic accidents (11).

However, such a fundamental sustainable goal is posed with significant uncertainty way by the future climate effect on local atmospheric conditions might tend to impact ambient concentrations of harmful pollutants in the air. Further to this, enduring impacts of recent developments in unclean fossil energy infrastructure and means of transport along with the potentials for retrofitting doors services to producer polluting tendency also uninformed (12). Furthermore, the way consumer behaviour will change over time is also unclear specifically with the adaptation of proactive lifestyles which show less reliance on motorised transports. According to reports of McCollum et al. (2018), certain forms of clean energy production could also develop the potential to create new health issues and challenges.

Conclusion

Hence, to conclude it can be stated that with several interactions between different SDG intentions, it is distinct that government-driven actions and strategies play a diseases role in ensuring that the constructive outcomes are obtained at a frequent rate with efficient mitigation of adverse consequences. Furthermore highly integrated policy frameworks with a holistic perspective with proactive engagement across government units from international to national to local are also crucial for efficiently obtaining the sustainable development goals.

References

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