Alok Sharma, UK President for the COP 26 Climate Conference, expresses his support for the High-level Dialogue on Energy

The Energy Compacts will start to be rolled out at the Ministerial-level Thematic Forums (21-25 June, virtual) and gather momentum as a major outcome of the High-level Dialogue on Energy in September.

Learn more about how you can commit to an Energy Compact here.

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) has launched a new, year-long campaign called Be Bold to drive ambitious action towards Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which calls for affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.

SEforALL launched the campaign recognizing that 2021 is a pivotal year for the clean energy transition given the need for COVID-19 recovery and with two major opportunities for change happening later this year: the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy and COP26.

Be Bold is about giving everyone – governments, businesses, development and financial institutions, and everyday citizens – a set of actions to help realize affordable and clean energy for all.  

This “whole of the world” approach is itself bold. By broadening the SDG7 movement, the campaign strives to bring previously unheard voices into the discussion around energy as the foundation for achieving other global goals, including the other SDGs and the Paris Agreement targets. A clean energy transition that ensures sufficient access to energy for all is essential to economic recovery from COVID-19 and net zero by 2050.

Be Bold asks citizens who support the clean energy transition to become members of the SDG7 movement through a new dedicated Be Bold website. These members will be engaged throughout the year with shareable, digital content they can use to attract others to the movement, building a critical mass of SDG7 supporters that will help advocate for action from decision-makers.

Importantly, Be Bold will promote the same actions sought by the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy. Specifically, Be Bold will call on businesses, governments and other organizations to make commitments through the Dialogue’s Energy Compacts. These Energy Compacts will specify SDG7-related commitments and actions and account for their impact on other SDGs and Nationally Determined Contributions towards achieving the Paris Agreement.

“During such a critical year for the energy transition, we need bold action to ensure we leave no one behind. From powering health clinics to creating new jobs, energy is at the heart of a prosperous future for all,” said Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy.

“The Be Bold campaign highlights the critical role that access to clean and affordable energy plays in achieving climate action and other global goals. The campaign will attract global citizens, companies, development institutions, governments and many others to become part of the SDG7 movement, whose collective voice will help raise ambition and secure new commitments for the High-level Dialogue on Energy and COP26.”

Be Bold kicks off on 16 March with a 24-hour digital launch, with videos from SDG7 supporters around the world streamed online throughout the day. A special, online event (4-6 pm CET) will introduce global audiences to the campaign and feature a musical performance by Kenyan musician Eric Wainaina.

The launch will also feature talks and video messages from: 

• H.E António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
• H.E. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, Nigeria
• H.E. Mary Robinson, Chair of the Elders, Former President of Ireland, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
• Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President, The Rockefeller Foundation
• Mark Carrato, Power Africa Coordinator
• Francesco Starace, Chairman of SEforALL Administrative Board
• Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy
• Mitzi Jonelle Chan, Climate Activist

A feature of the campaign throughout 2021 will be a video interview series called Bold Conversations, where global leaders from business and government will share their visions and actions towards achieving SDG7.

Those interested in joining the SDG7 movement can sign-up through the Be Bold campaign website. 

Be Bold was developed by SEforALL with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation. 

Spread the word and follow along using #SDG7BeBold.

On this celebrated day, answer seven questions to find out what type of #SDG7Women leader you are! 

Get to know the 7 #SDG7Women leaders below: 

Gabriela Prata Dias 

Gabriela Prata Dias is the Head of the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency (UNEP DTU Partnership). She previously worked with the Portuguese National Energy Agency, ADENE, where she implemented energy efficiency policies in Portugal. She has MSc qualifications in Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, coupled with very extensive experience in energy efficiency research and consultancy, including with the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels.  

Damilola Ogunbiyi 

Damilola Ogunbiyi is the CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. She is also a Commissioner for the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty and the Co-Chair of the COP26 Energy Transition Council. Damilola Ogunbiyi is a passionate global leader and advocate for universal energy access and a clean energy transition that gives everyone the opportunity of a prosperous, dignified, and healthy life. Prior to joining SEforALL, she was the first female Managing Director of the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency where she was responsible for successfully negotiating the Nigerian Electrification Project which is a USD 550 million facility to rapidly construct solar mini-grids and deploy solar home systems across Nigeria to close energy access gaps. 

Vanessa Nakate 

Vanessa Nakate is a climate activist. She was the first Fridays for Future climate activist in Uganda and founder of the Rise Up Climate Movement—a movement to amplify the voices of activists from Africa. Her work includes raising awareness of climate change causes and impacts. She spearheaded the campaign, Save Congo Rainforest, which has spread to other countries in Africa and Europe. One of the handful of youth activists who spoke at COP25 in Madrid and the SEforALL Youth Summit last February, she is currently working on a project that involves installation of solar and institutional stoves in schools. Vanessa also graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Makerere University Business School.  

Christiana Figueres  

Christiana Figueres is an internationally recognized leader on global climate change. She was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010-2016. Building toward the goal of leading the process to a universally agreed regulatory framework for climate change, she directed the successful Conferences of the Parties in Cancun 2010, Durban 2011, Doha 2012, Warsaw 2013, and Lima 2014, and culminated her efforts in the historical Paris Agreement of 2015. Throughout her tenure, she brought together national and sub-national governments, corporations and activists, financial institutions and communities of faith, think tanks and technology providers, NGOs and parliamentarians, to jointly deliver the unprecedented climate change agreement. For this achievement, Christiana Figueres has been credited with forging a new brand of collaborative diplomacy.  

Photo: Jimena Mateo 

Neha Juneja 

Neha Juneja is the co-founder and CEO of Greenway Appliances, a start-up designing and marketing efficient cooking solutions to rural households. Previously, Neha organized community-led projects and need-analysis consulting in a wide array of areas including agro-forestry, primary energy supply, and water access across rural India. She has been internationally recognized for her excellence in product design. In addition to the numerous awards she has helped GGI secure, Neha was named 2010’s Brightest Young Climate Leader by the Hindustan Times and British Council and won the L’Oreal Paris Femina Women Award for Science and Innovation in 2013.

Dr. Nithya Ramanathan 

Nithya Ramanathan is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Nexleaf Analytics, a tech non-profit dedicated to preserving human life and protecting our planet. A computer scientist specializing in sensor technologies and data analytics, Nithya is a tech-for-good pioneer and a leading thinker on global vaccine distribution. Nithya’s career started in Silicon Valley, designing chips at Intel and Hewlett-Packard, and continued as Research Faculty in sensor technologies at UCLA. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Vaccine and Nature Climate Change. Nithya is a PopTech Social Innovation Fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow, and a Rainer Arnhold Fellow. She is the winner of the 2017 Hedy Lamarr Award for Female Tech Pioneer, the 2020 Tällberg Foundation/Eliasson Global Leadership Award and has presented widely, including at the Vatican on creating innovative technology solutions for climate change, and the 2020 Global Vaccine Summit on scaling innovation.  

Dr. Hilda Heine 

Dr. Hilda Heine is the first woman to hold the presidency of the Marshall Islands. She has been an early advocate for women’s rights and climate action for small island states in the Pacific, founding the Women United Together Marshall Islands in 2000 and participating in the 2009 Pacific Islands Climate Change Education Partnership. During COP25 in Madrid, she led the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), a group of 48 climate-vulnerable nations in urging big carbon-polluting countries to step up their climate action plans. Dr. Heine is also a huge believer of youth inclusion in climate talks and has promoted the Kwon-Gesh (a nod to a mix of words in the native languages in Marshall Islands meaning "solemn duty”) pledge, which invites countries to include young people in the climate decision-making processes of governments. 

Photo: Jamila Toderas 

To learn more about SEforALL’s work to identify, support and champion the next generation of female energy leaders, visit Women at the Forefront.