This Annual Report presents the results of the first year of SEforALL's work under its current 2024-2026 Strategic Plan, which guides the implementation of in-country projects, the building of stronger partnerships, and advocacy for sustainable energy on the global stage..

Some highlights of our 2024 work included:

• 24 countries received customized support as part of SEforALL’s country engagement framework, 23 of them recipients of Official Development Assistance (ODA).
• 93 high-level commitments or UN-Energy Compacts towards a Just and Equitable Energy Transition supported by SEforALL.
• USD 2.48 billion mobilized for energy access and transition initiatives globally through initiatives led by SEforALL.
• 7,537 direct electricity connections provided to households, businesses and hospitals via solar energy projects financed or managed by SEforALL.
• 23 customized country-level plans, strategies, policies and regulations developed or enhanced with SEforALL support.
• 57 tools, platforms or knowledge products developed to provide new insights to partners in the sustainable energy sector.
• 12 countries supported in shaping their Mission 300 National Energy Compacts (Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia)

This Annual Report represents the culmination of SEforALL’s 2021-2023 Strategic Plan. Over this period, the organization made a deliberate shift towards implementing meaningful in-country projects, building stronger partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders, and becoming a leading advocate for sustainable energy on the global stage.

Some highlights of our 2023 work included:

• Powering people, communities and businesses with mini-grids and standalone solar systems financed by the Universal Energy Facility
• Implementing a healthcare electrification project at six hospitals in Sierra Leone
• Hosting the SDG7 Global South Pavilion at COP28 and supporting the COP28 Presidency on flagship initiatives
• Launching two new Energy Transition and Investment Plans for Ghana and Kenya respectively
• Mobilizing investment for Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan through the efforts our Energy Transition Office in Abuja
• Supporting the India G20 Presidency on securing a doubling energy efficiency commitment from G20 members

Read about these initiatives and many more in our Annual Report 2023.

The 2022 Annual Report highlights the work of SEforALL and its partners from last year.

With the help of our funders and partners, we work to deliver a global energy transition that brings sufficient, clean energy to everyone, creating greater social and economic opportunities, while at the same time minimizing global carbon emissions. We do this through a combination of global advocacy and diplomacy, where we engage with global leaders to secure their commitments to sustainable energy development, along with targeted support to countries and regions looking to improve energy access and to decarbonize. Together, these efforts help build higher ambition, stronger policy and planning, and faster results for energy transitions.

In 2022, we supported, researched and analysed a total of 30 countries. Among these, we provided support to 16 official development assistance (ODA)-recipient countries. This support is detailed in this annual report. 

The 2021 Annual Report highlights the work of SEforALL and its partners from the past year.

A key focus for us throughout the year was to build higher ambition for a clean and just energy transition. In particular, we wanted to ensure that major diplomatic moments on the calendar like the UN General Assembly and COP26 were catalysts for action on Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) and climate progress.

We made tremendous inroads when it comes to delivering targeted support to countries in 2021. For example, the Universal Energy Facility, which we launched in 2020, was operationalized and is providing results-based finance for mini-grid projects that are now being built in Madagascar with construction soon to start in Benin and Sierra Leone. Several other examples of successful country engagement are
described in this report.

As always, we continued to emphasize the importance of inclusivity in the energy transition, particularly when it comes to ensuring youth and female participation in decision-making. The 2021 SEforALL Youth Summit was a major step towards helping youth connect and collaborate with today’s leaders. And our Women at the Forefront programme continues to support women in building successful energy careers and advocate for energy policies and projects that boost gender equality.

Since our inception as a UN initiative in 2011, we have advocated for an energy transition that will end poverty and address climate change. Our efforts helped establish the dedicated Sustainable Development Goal for energy, SDG7, which calls for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030. Helping the world achieve this goal, in full alignment with the Paris Agreement, has been our mission since the SDGs were introduced.

2020 was the start of the final decade to achieve SDG7. Based on data tracked against its three core targets, the world was, and still is, off track to meet this goal. Faced with this reality, and with the UN Secretary-General proclaiming a Decade of Action on the SDGs, we embarked on a new strategy in 2020 under the leadership of our new CEO Damilola Ogunbiyi.

Our new approach to supporting SDG7 success is action- and solution-oriented and has two main lines of work. The first is strengthening global agenda-setting through advocacy and diplomacy. We need political and business leaders to make access to affordable, clean energy one of their top priorities. Through our strong relationship with the UN, we push leaders to make commitments and connect them with the resources and partners they need to act.

We also engage directly with high-impact countries where energy access deficits are highest. Our country engagement is based on specific country needs and goals. We help governments develop plans, policies and regulations conducive to sustainable energy development. We also work with businesses, finance and development partners to identify their needs for investing in a country’s energy sector. We then work with these partners and governments to develop solutions that unlock finance for energy projects. 

Our new 3-Year Business Plan organizes this work under 12 Programmes, each with expertise and partners related to specific areas that are integral to a clean, equitable energy transition, allowing us to take a holistic approach to our diplomacy and country engagement.

All of our country work is supported by the data and insights developed under our Programmes and by our partners.

A complete breakdown of the work undertaken by our individual Programmes in 2020 and the results they achieved is available in our 2020 Annual Monitoring Review.

This report highlights some of our most important activities in 2019, such as the 2019 SEforALL Charrettes in Amsterdam, Netherlands; the continuation of our Energizing Finance research series, and the introduction of a Cooling for All Needs Assessment tool as part of our Chilling Prospects research series.

Additional 2019 highlights included:

• The African Union Commission (AUC) formally adopted our recommendation for national governments to develop integrated electrification strategies as part of the AUC’s Cairo Declaration.
• A merger with the UN Foundation’s dedicated energy access team in August 2019 brought additional expertise and capacity to SEforALL for addressing areas like the critical role of energy for healthcare services.
• We partnered in and supported the launch of the Three Percent Club and Climate Investment Platform, helping establish these initiatives as part of our facilitation of the Energy Transition Track of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit and Energy Action Forum, held during the UN General Assembly in September 2019.
• Through prominent speaking opportunities and engagements at major international fora like COP25 and Davos 2019, we made sure that affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 remains the core goal guiding approaches to the global energy transition.
• We forged several new strategic partnerships with businesses, international organizations, foundations, universities and UN agencies.

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) works with leaders in government, the private sector and civil society to drive further, faster action toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), which calls for universal access to sustainable energy by 2030, and the Paris Agreement, which calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate warming to well below well below 2° Celsius (and striving for 1.5° Celsius). 

This report highlights some of our most important interventions in 2018 such as the fourth SEforALL Forum in Lisbon, which brought together over 800 leaders from business, government and civil society around the theme of “Leaving No One Behind” in the energy transition; the design meeting of the SEforALL Electrification Accelerator; the publication of the second annual Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape report; the launch of a flagship sustainable cooling report, Chilling Prospects, during the High-level Political Forum at UNHQ in New York in July 2018. 

In 2018, new work evolved responding to demands for addressing the relationship between energy access and health, as well as the energy needs of displaced populations. New strategic partnerships were formed with businesses, international organizations, foundations, universities and UN agencies.

Also see:

Annual Report 2018 Annex - Monitoring Review

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework (MEL Framework)

Financial Audit Report 2018

This first SEforALL Annual Report covers the calendar year 2014, charting a map for our achievement of sustainable energy for all and a way to track progress going forward.

Over the 2017 calendar year, the SEforALL global team created and worked on a set of targeted, action-oriented workstreams to drive critical action that must take place in the next few years. Those workstreams were made up of carefully orchestrated sets of interventions, each one designed to help leaders drive action at the pace and scale required. This report highlights some of the most important interventions:

• Release of the Energizing Finance series of reports that for the first time provided systematic analysis of finance flows for electricity and clean cooking access;
• Our third SEforALL Forum, taking place in New York and attended by over 1,000 participants from 110 countries;
• Our Cooling for All initiative which is tackling the challenge of fast-growing demands for sustainable cooling solutions;
• The launch of the People-Centered Accelerator, with over 40 partners working towards advancing gender equality, social inclusion, and women’s empowerment in the sustainable energy sector;
• Publication of the Why Wait? Seizing the Energy Access Dividend report, providing an evidence base for policymakers to seize the benefits from delivering decentralized solutions today.

Also see:

Annual Report 2017 Annex - Monitoring Review

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework (MEL Framework)

Financial Audit Report 2017