SEforALL promotes innovation and equity in the global energy transition at UNGA80 and Climate Week NYC
Each year, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) provides a platform to engage world leaders whose commitments are key to advancing clean energy transitions. Alongside Climate Week NYC, it enables governments, businesses and civil society to accelerate universal energy access and scale solutions for a just, equitable transition.
At UNGA80, SEforALL emphasized expanding energy access, innovating in financing and delivery, establishing linkages with industrialization and ensuring equity in the energy transition. Led by the CEO and UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All, our delegation joined partners to advance Mission 300, highlight progress on Energy Compacts and promote solutions to expand energy access and clean cooking to achieve SDG7 targets.
Below is a summary of our key activities at UNGA80 and Climate Week NYC 2025.
SEforALL Lights Up Times Square with the EmPower Campaign Launch
At UNGA80, SEforALL launched EmPower, a global campaign to shift the narrative around clean energy as the catalyst for economic transformation and the foundation for a future-ready generation. The launch featured a high-energy livestream from New York, streamed across multiple platforms, combining youth voices, global business leaders and policymakers in an interactive broadcast.
Through EmPower, SEforALL is reframing the energy story from problem to opportunity, from distant future to solutions already here, and from fragmented voices to collective action. The campaign will run through 2030, creating a platform to mobilize resources, reframe the energy story and ignite global action.
The launch was amplified by a month-long digital billboard in Times Square, symbolizing both the urgency and global reach of the campaign. At UNGA80, leaders emphasized business innovation, green industrialization and opportunities for Africa’s energy transition—setting the stage for how EmPower will drive awareness and engagement worldwide.
Africa’s Green Energy Revolution — SEforALL Raises Momentum
SEforALL led the energy pillar at the Unstoppable Africa event hosted by the Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) showcasing African governments, financiers and industry leaders advancing the continent’s green energy revolution. It opened with ‘By Africa, For Africa: Financing a Green Industrial Revolution,’ highlighting African-led investments and partnerships already delivering results.
The panel ‘Innovating Energy, Transforming Industry — Africa’s Way Forward’ gathered policymakers, investors and innovators to explore Africa’s energy transition. Speakers emphasized that African institutions are charting their own path, from clean power to green industry, and called on global partners to back this momentum.
The session concluded with five deep-dive breakouts on clean cooking, green hydrogen, energy finance, mineral-to-manufacturing value chains and Mission 300 coordination — each designed to turn dialogue into concrete collaboration and action.
SEforALL’s Green Industrialisation Hub – Minerals to Manufacturing
SEforALL convened a high-level roundtable, “Minerals to Manufacturing: Advancing Global South Ambitions to Build Clean Technology Value Chains.” The roundtable brought together governments, industry, development partners and financiers to discuss how countries can develop domestic clean energy technology value chains and advance their industrialization ambitions.
It showcased activities from SEforALL’s Green Industrialisation Hub and findings from Nigeria’s critical minerals demand–supply assessment, led by the Council for Critical Minerals Development in the Global South and UC Davis.
The discussion underscored the need to connect mineral resources to local manufacturing, ensuring the energy transition drives growth and opportunity in developing economies. It further identified key areas of interventions and partnerships necessary to support countries’ efforts to advance local value chain development.
Meeting on Key Actions for Scaling SDG7 Implementation ahead of 2030
Together with the Permanent Mission of Iceland to the UN in New York, we convened a partner meeting with governments, development financiers, philanthropies, the private sector and think tanks.
Discussions focused on the opportunities to advance a just and equitable energy transition in emerging and developing economies, underlining the role of locally led, data-informed planning in driving economic prosperity. Such approaches can accelerate progress toward SDG7 by 2030, support global efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and deliver wider benefits across the SDGs.
Increased Government Support for Mission 300
The World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group are working with partners including SEforALL, the Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), to align efforts in support of powering Africa, through Mission 300, the ambitious initiative to electrify 300 million Africans by 2030.
Seventeen additional African governments committed to reforms and actionable plans to expand electricity access as part of Mission 300 bringing the total number of countries actively working towards universal energy access to 29.
Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone and Togo were the newest countries to unveil their national Energy Compacts.
Launch of the Annual Energy Compacts Report
SEforALL launched the fourth edition of the Energy Compacts Report, building on the growing momentum since 2021, when more than 209 proponents first committed to accelerate progress toward SDG7.
New commitments to expand renewable energy and improve access to electricity and clean cooking by 2030 have raised the total finance and investment pledged through the United Nations to USD 1.6 trillion, of which USD 284 billion has already been mobilized. Energy Compact proponents have also expanded electricity access to 285 million people — an increase of 108 million in the past year. Progress on clean cooking access remains slower. A total of 33 million people have gained access since 2021, up from 23 million in last year’s report.
The report underscores how Energy Compact proponents are turning ambition into action, addressing today’s energy needs while laying the foundation for a sustainable future.
Advancing a Just Energy Transition through 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy
SEforALL convened a high-level session at the United Nations SDG7 Action Forum to explore how 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy procurement can operationalize the principles of the Just and Inclusive Energy Transition Compact (JIET). Unlike traditional renewable targets, 24/7 approaches aim to match every hour of demand with clean supply, driving investment in storage, grids and flexible technologies that ensure reliability.
Ambassador María Erla Marelsdóttir of Iceland delivered the keynote, followed by perspectives from global leaders across clean energy, storage and finance. The panelists highlighted how matching every hour of demand with clean supply can decarbonize power systems while creating jobs, strengthening resilience and ensuring fairness in emerging economies.
SEforALL also launched its new Report: Advancing the Just Energy Transition through Clean Energy Procurement,which provides actionable guidance for governments, companies, and communities on ensuring clean energy delivers inclusive prosperity.
Corporates Driving Net-Zero and a Just Energy Transition Forward
The session convened representatives from the private sector, government, finance and civil society to assess how corporate ambition can be effectively translated into actionable strategies for the energy transition.
Discussions emphasized the need to align corporate net-zero commitments with national energy priorities, supported by robust standards, accountability frameworks and cross-sector collaboration.
Participants examined pathways for decarbonizing supply chains, scaling green value chains and mobilizing innovative financing instruments to address cost pressures and shifting policy environments. The dialogue further underscored the importance of ensuring a just and equitable transition, with particular attention to the opportunities and challenges facing emerging economies.
Addressing Energy Poverty and Empowering Communities through Clean Cooking
Together with the Middle East Green Initiative’s Forward7, SEforALL co-hosted a high-level session spotlighting the urgent need to expand clean cooking access, particularly in schools.
The discussion showcased innovative initiatives across Africa that are addressing energy poverty while unlocking wide-ranging co-benefits for health, education, gender equity and climate resilience.
Case studies from Sierra Leone, Madagascar, and Tanzania highlighted how strategic partnerships with governments and organizations like SEforALL and Forward7 can deliver scalable, sustainable solutions. The session underscored that accelerating clean cooking is central to advancing energy, climate and development ambitions.
Youth, Equity and AI in the Energy Transition
At the SDG 7 Action Forum, SEforALL and the SDG 7 Youth Constituency co-hosted the session “From Energy Burden to Engine of Transition: Centering Equity in the Age of AI,” asking a crucial question: is Artificial Intelligence (AI) a challenge to sustainability, or can it drive a fair and inclusive energy transition?
Speakers emphasized that ensuring AI serves as a tool for equity requires investments in reskilling for green and AI-driven jobs, innovations that reach last-mile communities and the empowerment of local leadership.
The session concluded with a clear call to action: to ensure women, youth and marginalized groups have active leadership roles, backed by investments in digital skills and quality data, to shape how AI powers the energy transition.
Advancing Gender Data and Indicators for a Just & Equitable Transition
As co-lead of the Gender & Energy Compact, alongside ENERGIA, GWNE, and UNIDO, SEforALL emphasized the urgent need to establish standardized sex-disaggregated data and indicators to ensure a just and inclusive energy transition at the SDG 7 Action Forum.
Building on the launch of the Policy Briefs in Support of the High-Level Political Forum 2025, “Gender Indicators for Sustainable Energy: A Call to Action,” the session highlighted that without robust data on how energy policies affect women, from time poverty and labour participation to leadership and entrepreneurship, it remains a challenge to design effective policies or measure progress.
In the face of challenges such as low data coverage and siloed efforts, speakers called for harmonized methodologies, better use of existing datasets and stronger collaboration ahead of the 2026 HLPF review of SDG 7. The consensus was clear: making gender impacts visible through data is a core requirement for accountability and for shaping a sustainable energy future that empowers everyone.
Advancing Decent Work & Productive Employment for Women in the Energy Transition
SEforALL and the Gender & Energy Compact co-leads convened a session focused on evidence-based strategies to ensure women and girls secure decent employment in the shift to clean energy.
Speakers shared global, evidence-based solutions, including Iceland’s national policies on parental leave and boardroom quotas, India’s training programmes enabling women to install and maintain solar pumps and Kenya’s initiatives attracting women to skilled construction trades. These examples underscored that achieving a just transition demands multi-stakeholder action to embed gender equality in policy, invest in targeted training and create supportive work environments that unlock the resilience and innovation women and youth bring to the sector.
The discussions reaffirmed that women’s empowerment is a strategic necessity. Ambassador María Erla Marelsdóttir of Iceland captured this imperative, asking, “The question is not whether we can afford to prioritize gender equality, but can we afford not to?”
Global Media Impact
Lastly, our work captured the attention of some of the world’s most influential media outlets. TIME, The New York Times, BBC, Reuters and CGTN America featured coverage, amplifying our message to millions across the globe.
This recognition underscores both the growing relevance of our mission and the urgency of the challenges we address. From global broadcast segments on Reuters, BBC and CGTN America to thought-leadership features in The New York Times and TIME events, the breadth of coverage highlights the importance of our work and expands our reach to new partners, supporters and communities worldwide.
Our CEO’s latest recognition in the 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leaders list acknowledging the work of 50 global leaders at the forefront of climate action, continues to draw attention to the urgency of a just and equitable energy transition, and our work driving transformative change.
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