At the 5-year mark, action under Energy Compacts has delivered electricity access to over 300 million and strong renewables growth

Annual report shows expanding impact, but trillions more in finance needed to meet targets for universal energy access and climate goals.

New York, 24 September 2026 — In the five years since the United Nations launched the Energy Compacts to mobilize voluntary commitments from all stakeholders, 308 million people have gained new or improved access to electricity through these actions, according to the fifth edition of the Energy Compacts Annual Progress Report being released today. Still, 655 million live without electricity, and progress has slowed on this and other global energy targets under Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), such as clean cooking and energy efficiency, underscoring the urgent need to accelerate. 

The report, which is being launched at the EnergyNow SDG7 Action Forum on the margins of the UN General Assembly, shows expanding impact under the Energy Compact voluntary commitments on both energy access and transition. Since the Energy Compacts were launched in 2021 -- in connection with the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy -- substantial results have been generated against the 164 commitments registered, mostly by governments and the private sector, according to the annual report. 

Progress towards affordable and clean energy for all continues, but the latest data and analysis underscores the need to accelerate action. The next phase offers an opportunity to build on this momentum, scale investment and partnerships, and advance more resilient, inclusive and sustainable energy systems towards 2030 and beyond.

"Over the past five years, the annual Energy Compact report has provided more than a record of commitments. It has become a valuable tool for tracking where momentum is building, where gaps persist, and where greater ambition, investment and collaboration are needed,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said in an introductory letter. “At a time when the world is striving to expand energy access, protect consumers from rising energy costs, and accelerate the transition to cleaner and more resilient energy systems, understanding what works and where progress is stalling is essential. The scale of today's energy challenges demands collective action. That is how individual commitments become aligned efforts, and aligned efforts become transformative progress."

Expanding results on energy transition and access

The Energy Compacts annual report shows growing cumulative impact across all the SDG7 targets, albeit too slow. Since 2021, 36.2 million people have gained access to clean cooking through Energy Compact proponents, up from 33 million as of last year, but far from the goal of serving the 2 billion people still cooking with polluting fuels, with severe impacts on their health and the environment.  

Renewables growth continues to move forward, with 338 Gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity installed since 2021 through Energy Compact action, equivalent to three-quarters of the renewable energy capacity in the USA, and up from 301 GW last year. However, much of this growth has been in developed countries, creating a huge disparity with renewable capacity in less wealthy countries. 

Energy saved through efficiency measures under the Energy Compacts has risen sharply from 43 Terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to 417 TWh now, cumulative since 2021. But this rise is based on a small number of Energy Compacts reporting large changes and does not reflect that among the SDG7 indicators, energy efficiency is the one falling furthest behind globally.  

The cumulative amount of finance mobilized or deployed by Energy Compact proponents has nearly doubled in the last two years, reaching US$389 billion in total this year, compared to US$201 billion in 2024, against US$ 1.6 trillion pledged by 2030.  Most of the funding mobilized is private sector investment in renewable generation. The report cites figures from  Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report 2026 estimating that over $4 trillion total investment is needed annually to achieve universal energy access, while setting the world on a climate action trajectory towards net-zero emissions by 2050 and averting ever-worsening climate impacts.  

Positive impacts on health, transport, jobs

Updated global figures also show how action under the Energy Compacts has had positive impacts on a wide range of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as by improving electricity access at over 17,217 health facilities serving some 43 million people (SDG3), and by helping to deploy over 2.9 million electric vehicles and over 379,000 charging stations (SDG11). The report also noted 1.66 million green jobs created, with over 837,000 people receiving training (SDG8).

Case studies and examples in the report highlight progress on a diverse range of Energy Compacts, including the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy compact, with over 165 signatories to a multi-stakeholder coalition; the Just and Inclusive Energy Transition Compact, which has moved from ten agreed principles to an active network; a Gender & Energy Compact supporting women entrepreneurs and gender data in the energy sector; IRENA's seven Compacts to promote offshore wind, solar and geothermal for islands and developing countries; D-REC, a market mechanism to make distributed renewable energy financeable; and EnergizeSEA, a youth-led action plan for SDG7 in Southeast Asia. 

The Energy Compact report includes guidance on how national governments, regions and cities, private companies, financial institutions, UN agencies and civil society organizations can submit their own Energy Compact commitments through an online process. 

The report was prepared by UN-Energy, the coordination mechanism which includes more than 30 UN and international organizations that work on energy issues, with data compiled and analysed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). 

Media contacts:

UN-Energy Secretariat, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA): Pragati Pascale, pascale@un.org 
UN Department of Global Communications: Sharon Birch, birchs@un.org
UN Development Programme (UNDP): Stefano Pistolese, stefano.pistolese@undp.org
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL): Sakshi Chandra, sakshi.chandra@seforall.org

For more information:   @UN_Energy | un.org/energy | un.org/energycompacts