AI is getting more efficient. AI's energy demand is on track to triple by 2030. Both are true and this contradiction now sits at the centre of the global energy debate.

Three numbers describe what that contradiction adds up to.

945. It is projected that data centres will consume around 945 terawatt-hours of electricity globally by 2030. That is roughly double the 415 TWh used in 2024 and close to Japan's annual total. AI-focused demand alone is set to triple.

602 billion USD. That is the projected combined capital expenditure of the top five hyperscale technology companies on data centre and AI infrastructure in 2026. The 2025 figure was USD 400 billion, already larger than global investment in oil and gas production.

666 million. That is the number of people still living without access to electricity. Most are in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region that is home to 18% of the world's population but accounts for less than 1% of global data centre capacity.

Together, those three numbers describe the central energy story of our time. AI is reshaping the global power system at extraordinary speed. Whether that reshaping closes the access gap or widens it is the policy question of the years ahead.

Three trends explain why.

Efficiency cannot keep up with usage. Global data centre electricity demand grew 17% in 2025, while total electricity demand grew 3%. Energy use per AI task has fallen close to tenfold each year in recent years, a pace the energy sector has not previously seen. Even at that pace, efficiency cannot outrun demand. But the demand keeps coming: more people are using AI and newer applications such as agents, video generation and reasoning consume far more energy per query than text.

Concentration matters more than averages. Data centres now account for more than 20% of Ireland's electricity and are on track to reach 30% by 2032, against an EU average of 2 to 3%. Cooling adds a second concentration. S&P Global projects that 45% of more than 9,000 facilities worldwide will face high water-stress exposure by the 2050s, with the sharpest risks in parts of the Middle East, Spain, Chile, Peru and Mexico. Communities around facilities in Querétaro and Santiago have already pushed back against operations drawing from aquifers under multi-year drought.

Clean energy is a deliberate choice. Iceland's data centres run entirely on geothermal and hydropower and Norway's grid is over 95% hydropower. Around 40% of all corporate renewable power purchase agreements signed in 2025 were tied to technology companies and the conditional pipeline of small modular reactor offtake agreements grew from 25 to 45 gigawatts in a single year. Without that deliberate choice, however, the picture looks very different.

This is where the access conversation arrives. Africa hosts some of the world's most underused renewable resources: geothermal in the East African Rift, hydropower along the Congo and Nile basins, world-class solar across the Sahel and abundant wind on multiple coasts. It has almost none of the AI investment now redirecting energy markets elsewhere. The mismatch is itself the opportunity. African Energy Week 2026 will host the first dedicated AI and Data Centre Track this October in Cape Town, positioning data centre demand as an anchor for gigawatt-scale clean energy investment.

The technology is proven and the capital is moving. What remains is the policy work: the disclosure rules, planning frameworks and financing structures that determine whether AI's electricity demand props up legacy fossil systems or builds new clean capacity that also reaches the unconnected.

The three numbers will not stand still. The question is which way they move and for whom.

SEforALL is proud to deepen its partnership with the Government of India through support for the Energy Agenda coordinated by the Ministry of Power. As India assumes the 2026 BRICS Chairship, under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” India’s leadership comes at a pivotal moment, as global energy systems navigate unprecedented complexity and rapid transformation.

The expanded BRICS+ bloc now represents a global coalition of 11 member countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. Together, they account for around 45% of global primary energy consumption, a population of 3.3 billion and over 37% of global GDP (PPP), underscoring their growing influence on global energy and economic pathways. 

Beyond its formal membership, BRICS+ engages a wider ecosystem of partner and dialogue countries, including Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan. Their participation further broadens the coalition’s reach, strengthens South–South cooperation, accelerates technology exchange and deepens collaboration across energy, trade and sustainable development.

The 2026 BRICS Energy Track follows a structured and sequenced pathway to ensure coherence, continuity and collective ownership across its three core pillars: Energy Security & Sustainability, Energy Access & Equity and Technology & Innovation. The roadmap began with the First Senior Energy Officials Meeting (23–24 March), with follow-up meetings planned, which will culminate in the Ministers’ Summit later this year, creating a sustained arc of engagement, consensus-building and joint action.

SEforALL’s collaboration with India spans nearly five years through support of its Energy Compact submitted in 2022 and momentum-building for the global campaign to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency improvements under its 2023 G20 Presidency.

Our current support spans energy efficiency, clean cooking, biofuels and critical minerals and supply chains – priorities that strengthen the Energy Security pillar of BRICS by diversifying energy systems, enhancing affordability and accelerating the deployment of clean technologies. Through technical exchanges, issue papers and facilitated dialogues across the BRICS+ landscape, SEforALL is helping translate India’s leadership into tangible, scalable global outcomes.

Looking ahead, today’s energy challenges demand stronger global and multilateral collaboration. No country or bloc can secure energy stability alone. India’s BRICS Presidency offers a pivotal opportunity to align priorities, deepen partnerships and drive collective solutions that strengthen energy security. SEforALL stands ready to help turn this shared ambition into tangible progress.

In rural Zambia, access to affordable and sustainable electricity opens the door to economic prosperity. Communities either use unpredictable on-grid electricity or use expensive diesel generators for power. This is the reality, with more than 50 percent of Zambians being either underserved or living beyond the grid. It is in this context that two years ago, in 2024, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet Inc. ('Global Energy Alliance'), with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, embarked on an ambitious goal of bringing energy access to millions of people in rural Zambia. 

The Powering 1000 Communities Initiative aims to expand electrification through solar mini-grids across rural Zambia. In line with this ambition, SEforALL undertook a comprehensive market assessment to better understand the scale of the problem and pathways to reach the ambitious goal. 

Over the years, the government of Zambia has made significant progress in expanding energy access, yet the rapid population growth, as with many other countries on the continent, has highlighted the need to accelerate energy sector development. Hydroelectric still plays a vital role in meeting over 80% of the country’s energy needs. However, recurring droughts underscore the importance of diversifying the country’s energy sources to ensure reliable energy access for all.

Data from the Ministry of Energy indicates that as of 2024, the national peak demand for electricity was 2,400 megawatts, while the available power generated was only 1,040 megawatts. This resulted in a power deficit of 1,360 megawatts. For the ordinary Zambian, it means living in constant blackouts, while for businesses, it means using diesel generators. While the national grid reaches over 80% of homes in major towns, in rural regions, that number reduces significantly to just 34%. With 60% of the country’s population living in rural areas, the lack of electricity disproportionately affects them, stifling socio-economic development.

It is in this context that SEforALL, working with the Rural Electrification Authority (REA), with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, and together with The Global Energy Alliance, the African School of Regulations, and Columbia World Projects, has sought to find solutions to these challenges. To achieve this, it was crucial to not only focus on electricity connections but also to have a holistic approach to electricity access that would create a demand and supply system for electricity.

“Our goal is to move beyond simply connecting communities to electricity. We are focused on building thriving local economies where energy is used productively to drive demand, strengthen businesses and make off-grid solutions financially sustainable for the long term.” — Anita Otubu, Senior Director, Universal Energy.  

The approach was twofold: addressing the critical challenge of low demand for energy through the Zambia Energy Demand Stimulation Incentive (ZEDSI) and  designing an integrated framework for rural electrification that will help shift investment toward sustainable, long-term financing for off-grid solutions, rather than one-off infrastructure grants. 

The idea behind ZEDSI is that incentivizing private off-grid developers to boost energy use, especially through productive uses of energy (PUEs), increases consumption and makes existing mini-grids more financially viable. The ultimate result is an increase in future investments in off-grid energy – reducing energy poverty. ZEDSI has made considerable progress. It has onboarded three private off-grid developers to install solar mini-grids across 43 rural communities and has been actively encouraging people to adopt PUE equipment and use electricity productively. Across seven active sites, farmers are using milling and grinding machines to process their harvests, small businesses are running cold storage units and households are charging phones and appliances. 

Early results show that customers supported under ZEDSI are using nearly eight times more electricity than those who are not. These mini-grid projects are also earning almost seven times more on average, thus increasing economic viability for the developers. With these numbers expected to increase over time as more people are onboarded, ZEDSI is set for significant growth.

One of the significant conversations was on the proposed Universal Access Cluster (UAC) model. is an integrated framework for rural electrification that considers the least cost combination of all electrification modes, including grid extension, mini grids, mesh grids, and SHS. This framework provides a natural shift away from partial capex subsidization and cost reflective tariffs toward a cross-subsidization mechanism, offering a more sustainable, long term, pathway to universal electrification within a country. REA is now preparing to pilot the first set of clusters in collaboration with the Global Energy Alliance and SEforALL. The pilot will focus on creating an investment case that will attract more investors to the mini-grid market.

In addition, the initiative has established a geospatial working group that brings together key government agencies to plan electrification together. The initiative is also building the foundations for sustainable rural electrification through supporting the strengthening of REA’s national electrification master plan with better data and mapping tools. 

With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance, and Sustainable Energy for All, rural businesses powered by mini-grids are growing across Zambia. This work helps stimulate demand, strengthen local enterprises and fuel lasting social and economic progress.

Image credits: The Rockefeller Foundation.

By Luc Severi, Head of Energy Access at SEforALL.

As we observe World Health Day 2026, it is good to be reminded of a few key numbers that have guided my work over the last decade. Nearly a billion people rely on health facilities where electricity is either unavailable or unreliable, significantly impacting their ability to deliver quality health services. The global pandemic injected much-needed momentum to the sector, but we are now firmly in a post-pandemic world, where the funding landscape for international development is changing rapidly. We cannot lose sight of the critical importance of reliable energy to achieve universal health coverage, especially as long as mothers still give birth in the dark and vaccines go to waste due to interrupted cold chains. 

At Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), health facility electrification remains a core priority, particularly through our Powering Healthcare programme. Over the years, we have worked closely with partners across the health and energy sectors, consistently making the case that bridging the energy gap in healthcare requires stronger collaboration, sustained investment, and greater urgency.
 

Our commitment extends beyond advocacy into direct action.Since 2020, SEforALL has deployed power solutions in 61 facilities across four countries. In Sierra Leone, for example, a long-standing partnership with FCDO and the Ministry of Health has equipped 17 hospitals and 25 clinics with solar PV and storage solutions. . By the time you read this, an 18th hospital will likely have been connected as well. The impact has been both immediate and measurable. Across the first six hospitals, we observed a 158% increase in energy consumption within a single year. Despite this significant increase in energy consumption, diesel generator reliance dropped by 38%. These figures translate into clear outcomes for the sector: lower electricity costs, enhanced reliability, reduced emissions and improved health services.

With the support of Transforming Energy Access, we have also piloted innovations in seven countries through the Powering Healthcare Innovation Fund. These innovations all have the potential to significantly change how energy is delivered to health facilities, manage long-term operations and maintenance  and manage health data across the health sector.

Finally, with  partners including UNICEF, GEAPP, and FCDO, we have led the charge in ensuring that market intelligence is transparent and reliable, by developing country-level market assessments and roadmaps. These assessments allow governments and development partners to implement projects with better data by avoiding duplication of efforts and improving intersectoral coordination.

Across the sector, many other organizations have been working to power up clinics, deploy energy-efficient medical appliances, and phase out reliance on diesel generators. While emerging financing models such as energy-as-a-service, income-generating activities and distributed renewable energy certificates (D-RECs) hold promise they have not yet reached scale. 

The energy access gap in the health sector remains substantial, leaving an estimated 100,000 health facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa alone without adequate power. Alongside the WHO, the World Bank and IRENA, we estimated the investment required  to deliver reliable power to every health facility. The answer: $4.9 billion, which equates to roughly $5 for every person impacted.

Closing this gap will require continued innovation and smart partnerships across the energy, health, and climate sectors. It also requires strong collaboration between public and private entities.  Above all, we need a firm  commitment to recognize and finance  energy as a foundational component of resilient health systems. Because it will cost us much more than $5 per person if clinics remain in the dark.

The disruption around the Strait of Hormuz — a corridor carrying roughly 20 million barrels of oil a day — has been called the greatest threat to global energy security in history. The crisis, according to global experts, is worse than the 1970s oil shocks and the 2022 Ukraine gas disruption combined and the response so far reflects the scale of the problem. Oil prices surged over 60% in March, prompting the IEA to authorize its largest-ever release of emergency reserves at 400 million barrels. But as Dr. Faith Birol himself acknowledged, reserves buy time. They are not a cure.

Previous oil shocks left countries with few options. Today, clean energy is viable, affordable and already operating at scale. Ember's research shows that scaling solar, wind, electric vehicles and heat pumps could allow fossil fuel importers to cut their import bills by 70%. Solar panel prices have halved since 2022 and battery costs have fallen by 36%. Global EV sales have doubled and the global EV fleet already avoids oil consumption equivalent to 70% of Iran's exports. Moreover, solar growth in 2025 alone could displace gas-fired electricity equal to all LNG exported through the Strait of Hormuz that year. It is also worth mentioning that experts expect this crisis to accelerate renewables, calling them a "homegrown domestic energy source" no conflict can block.

The climate case reinforces the urgency. The WMO's latest State of Climate report confirms the last eleven years were the hottest on record. Earth's energy imbalance is also at its highest level since records began. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres put it plainly: in this age of geopolitical conflicts, the addiction to fossil fuels is destabilizing the climate, the global economy and global security alike. Renewables, he said, deliver climate, energy and national security all at once.

That momentum, however, has yet to reach the people who need it most. Three-quarters of the world's population live in countries that import fossil fuels, spending USD 1.7 trillion in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, 666 million people still lack access to electricity and 2.1 billion cook with polluting fuels. Every price shock hits these communities hardest. Clean energy is not only the solution to volatility; it is also the most practical path to energy access that does not recreate the same exposure to price shocks and supply disruptions.

This is where Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)'s work matters most. Our Universal Energy Facility has grown from USD 8.5 million at launch to USD 67.3 million, deploying mini-grids and standalone solar across Sub-Saharan Africa. Together with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, we are advancing Mission 300 to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030. Since July 2023, these efforts have already reached 44 million people. Meanwhile at COP30, SEforALL took on the coordination of three Plans to Accelerate Solutions through 2030 on electricity access, clean cooking and energy efficiency.

As our CEO Damilola Ogunbiyi recently wrote in TIME, climate ambition and energy access must move forward together. And the clean energy transition is how we do both at once. Clean energy solutions reduce exposure to chokepoints, keep spending within domestic economies and reach communities that grid extension alone never will. The technology is proven. The economics are favourable. And the geopolitical case is now writing itself in real time. The opportunity is here and it must be seized for the communities and countries that stand to gain the most.

Photo credit: Michael Gaylard, Flickr.

Across the world, the clean energy transition is being shaped by people who refuse to accept that energy poverty is inevitable. They are entrepreneurs, programme leaders, innovators and advocates working on the frontlines of energy access.

Several of those changemakers were recognized through our inaugural Energy Heroes Awards, which celebrate individuals and organizations driving real-world progress on energy access, clean cooking and sustainable development.

Their stories are also a reminder of something deeper: when more women lead in energy,  solutions become more inclusive, resilient and grounded in real lives.

A reality close to home

Paola Rodriguez, now General Manager at Soluz Honduras, began her journey in the energy sector there as a consultant.

What she encountered changed her perspective.

“Meeting our customers, most of them women, opened my eyes to the challenges families were facing just a few hours from my own home,” she recalls.

Her work focuses on bringing affordable solar power to families in remote communities, many of whom live in extreme poverty, through innovative financing and results-based subsidies.

For many families, it is their first reliable source of electricity.

Powering opportunity across Africa

Thousands of kilometres away in Mozambique, Javier Ayala, Energy Sector Lead for the BRILHO programme, helps to scale clean energy solutions that expand access for millions.

By the end of 2025, BRILHO had supported the growth of more than 56,000 small businesses and improved access to clean cooking and solar energy for 4.1 million people. 

For Javier, the impact is most visible in everyday moments.

“Seeing women-led businesses thrive because they now have reliable power or children studying at night under solar light reminds me that energy access is not just about technology. It's about dignity, opportunity and hope.” 

The people behind the transition

Across Southeast Asia, Natasha Allen has focused on strengthening the workforce behind decentralized solar systems.

Through training programmes and partnerships, her work helps technicians and communities develop the skills needed to install, maintain and expand solar systems.

But for Natasha, the most powerful impact is what happens after the training ends.

“Many of our alumni are now leading installations, mentoring new technicians or bringing solar power to places that had no reliable electricity,” she says. “The real impact is the growing network of people who now have the skills and confidence to keep that work going.” 

Unlocking climate finance 

For Deborah Fadeyi, founder of ecoWise, the challenge lies in something less visible but equally critical: financing clean energy projects.

Her work focuses on developing digital systems that allow distributed solar projects to participate in carbon markets — unlocking new financial pathways for clean energy deployment.

It’s also deeply personal.

Experiencing energy poverty during childhood shaped her understanding of how essential electricity is to everyday life.

“Energy is a powerful multiplier,” she explains. “When people have reliable access, it unlocks productivity, education, healthcare and economic opportunity.”

Why women’s leadership matters

There’s a single thread connecting these leaders: they are clearing the path for others to lead.

Paola brings first-time energy access to rural communities. Natasha turns technical training into lifelong careers. Deborah takes it even further and builds the financial systems that turn local wins into global scale. Javier shifts perspectives, reminding us that inclusion is not simply about letting people in the door. It’s about redesigning the room so everyone can thrive.

Ultimately, these stories prove that energy systems are only as powerful as the lives they finally reach.

Every year, nearly three million people die prematurely every year from illnesses associated with exposure to smoke from polluting open fires or inefficient stoves, with women the most affected. Women suffer from health issues caused by smoke inhaled when cooking on a traditional, fire-driven stove. Moving from traditional cooking fuels to cooking driven by electricity - also known as clean cooking - is therefore a key solution to achieving gender equality, addressing climate change and improving the health and safety of communities.

Consequently, women play a critical role in increasing awareness and generating demand for clean cooking solutions, and the clean cooking value chain offers powerful pathways for women’s economic empowerment. 

Yet, women continue to face financial, social and structural barriers to their access to clean cooking technologies and employment in the clean cooking sector. Recognizing this SEforALL, the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA), and the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) launched the Women in Clean Cooking (WiCC) Mentorship Programme, an initiative empowering women professionals to drive change through mentorship, knowledge exchange and leadership development. To date, 262 women have received mentorship through the WiCC programme, advancing their careers in the clean cooking sector. 

This Women’s History Month, in recognition of the International Women’s Day 2026 theme of Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls, SEforALL highlights the inspiring journey of Aqeela Mughal, a Project Coordinator at Revive Environment Pvt. Ltd., and her mentor Joseph Hwani, an Energy and Environment Expert. This story demonstrates how mentorship can ignite sustainable impact to #EmPowerHer.
 

Building confidence and community

Aqueela started working with clean cooking in 2021. She has sought to improve the cooking conditions of women and children exposed to traditional fire-driven stove cooking given the benefits of the Improved Cookstove (IC) on health, environmental conservation and energy access. This led her to working with carbon removal projects, clean cooking programme implementation and researching environmental and sustainability subjects. 

“I recognized the need for strategic guidance to scale and impact more effectively. I sought mentorship to bridge the gap between implementation and long-term sustainability, particularly in areas like market development, user behavior change, policy alignment and carbon financing,” Aqeela shares.  

Enter her mentor, Joseph, whose academic and professional career in renewable energy research and development led to his contributions to sustainable development across Africa, Europe and Australia. 

For Joseph, being a mentor is a source of inspiration. “Thanks to the WiCC Mentorship Programme, I have had the opportunity to live this passion, sharing knowledge and experiences while supporting my mentee in achieving her aspirations,” he shares.

Through their mentorship, Aqeela and Joseph explored technical and strategic themes, from proposal writing to carbon financing and user-focused clean cooking design. Aqeela reflects that the most powerful piece of advice she received was Joseph’s reminder that “technical efficiency alone doesn’t lead to impact; it must be paired with cultural, behavioral and economic fit.”

For Joseph, the mentorship has been equally rewarding: “These exchanges not only strengthened Aqeela’s capacity but also enhanced my own collaborative approach, reinforcing the power of listening with the intent to understand."

Clean cooking as empowerment

With her mentor’s support, Aqeela now views clean cooking not as a purely technical intervention, but as a catalyst for education, livelihoods and resilience in underserved communities. Aqeela’s reflections underline the importance of her mentorship experience in pairing technical knowledge with advocacy and social innovation, reflecting that the experience has given her the confidence to pursue roles that create both social and environmental impact. Her work in the sector now focuses on “the people whose lives it will change,” she tells us.

Joseph adds that watching Aqeela “secure funding and achieve certification of her stoves has been deeply rewarding. Her success is a testament to her determination and a reminder of how impactful mentorship can be in shaping careers and advancing sustainable solutions.”

Celebrating women powering the energy transition

Aqeela and Joseph’s story illustrates how mentorship can shape careers and communities at once. It is a testament to the power of investing in women, and how shared expertise accelerates progress towards sustainable development goals.

As SEforALL celebrates Women’s History Month, we reinforce our commitment to supporting the women transforming energy systems and leading their communities towards a more sustainable future. 

Learn more about Joseph and Aqeela’s mentorship journey through the WiCC Programme.

This Women's History Month and in honour of International Women’s Day 2026, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) continues to champion gender and youth mainstreaming to drive an equitable energy transition. SEforALL recognizes a critical truth: we cannot achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) if we leave half the population and the next generation behind. Year round, SEforALL commits to #EmPowerHer by putting women and girls at the centre of the energy transition and championing inclusive growth. Through our Gender & Youth Programme, SEforALL positions mainstreaming as a core pillar, ensuring gender perspectives are embedded within all policies, programmes and interventions. 

What is gender & youth mainstreaming?

Gender & youth mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women, men, girls and boys of any planned action. By embedding gender and youth perspectives into the design, implementation and monitoring of energy interventions, we ensure that sustainable energy for all reaches even the most marginalized communities. This approach transforms women and young people from beneficiaries of energy into the co-creators and leaders of the energy transition.
 

Who should mainstream gender & youth?

Gender & youth mainstreaming is not just for international organizations. It is a vital tool for energy developers who are designing rural mini-grids, policymakers who draft national electrification plans and compacts, corporate leaders aiming to diversify their talent pipeline and event organizers shaping global energy discourse.

Integrating gender and youth perspectives into standard operating procedures is not just about equity, it is about effectiveness. Projects that consider the lived experiences of diverse users are more resilient, better utilized and more sustainable in the long term. 

Tools for the energy transition

SEforALL recognizes that while many organizations want to be inclusive, they may not know where to start — or they may just need a reminder. 

The Global Media Monitoring Project found that in 2025, women accounted for just 26 percent of news subjects and sources, appearing largely absent from broadcasting, radio, and print. The report finds that 41 percent of reports in traditional news articles are now women, an increase from 28 percent in 1995, important as articles written by women journalists are more likely to include women subjects than stories by men. This is key as only 2 of every 100 news stories analyzed in 2025 clearly challenged stereotypes, and only 2 in 100 stories cover gender-based violence, despite affecting half the world’s population. The way we communicate, and who is included in that communication, shapes policymaking, investment priorities, and how individuals see themselves.

The underrepresentation of women extends beyond the media. At COP29, for instance, only 8 out of 77 opening speakers were women. An analysis by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization found that women’s participation at COP28 was only 34%, a modest increase of just 3 percentage points from COP14 in 2008. At this rate, achieving gender parity in these global negotiations is not expected until 2043. This persistent underrepresentation reinforces a male-dominated decision-making process that often does not adequately represent women’s lived experiences.

To help bridge these gaps, SEforALL has developed two cornerstone resources designed to make inclusion and mainstreaming an everyday activity.

SEforALL’s Inclusive Communications Guidelines Tool recognizes communications as an essential element to participation. This tool helps organizations ensure their messaging, imagery, and outreach strategies resonate across different regions and demographics. By adopting these guidelines, organizations can avoid unconscious biases, truly represent the individuals they serve and ensure their message reaches the women and youth who are often the most excluded from energy discourse.

In response, SEforALL created the Gender & Youth Mainstreaming Event Guidelines to serve as a cornerstone to planning energy conferences, workshops, or virtual meetings. This tool provides a blueprint for planning and executing events that are inclusive, responsive, and transformative. From accessibility considerations to speaker selection and question crafting, these guidelines draw on global best practices to ensure every energy event is a platform for justice and inclusion. 

This March, we're marking Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day 2026 by highlighting how data and evidence can drive a more just and inclusive energy transition for all. Under SEforALL’s Gender & Youth programme, we #EmPowerHer by closing gender data gaps so that policies, investments and programmes reflect women’s realities and leadership in the energy sector.

Gender data gaps in sustainable development

Sex-disaggregated data is essential to understanding how women and men are differently affected by energy access, affordability, and employment opportunities. It helps track progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 7 on  access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030 and SDG 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and informs programme design, policy interventions, and investments that can close gender gaps in the energy sector.

Yet, significant  gaps remain. According to UN Women (2022), on average only 42% of the data required to monitor gender dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is available. Out of 193 countries, 136 countries fall before the 40% mark, and 93 countries report less than 25% availability.  The 2022 Sustainable Development Goals Report further shows that out of 32 global indicators requiring sex-disaggrgegated data, only 21 were sufficiently available in most countries, and only seven met sex- and age-disaggregation requirements. 

SDG 7 is among six SDGs with no gender-specific indicators. This gap limits how countries account for women’s contributions to and benefits from the energy sector. As a result, energy planning risks overlooking the realities faced by women and girls, from unpaid care burdens linked to energy poverty to low participation in energy careers and entrepreneurship.  

Data as a cornerstone of a just and inclusive energy transition

SEforALL’s Data & Evidence work addresses these critical gaps by strengthening gender-responsive data collection and use in energy policy, planning, and implementation. 

The report Improving energy data to enhance gender equality highlights how investing in sex-disaggregated data not only clarifies women’s energy access needs but also drives more inclusive investments. Accurate data empowers policymakers to design targeted interventions, including expanding clean cooking programmes, financing women-led energy businesses, and fostering equitable employment pathways. The report calls for collaborative efforts among national governments, statistics offices, development partners, and the private sector to standardize methodologies, define gender indicators, and embed these into energy data systems worldwide.

SEforALL’s publication The gender-energy nexus in the AI era: Challenges and opportunities explores how technological innovation can drive gender equality. Artificial Intelligence (AI) could accelerate progress on 134 of 169 SDG targets, yet SDG 5 has the fewest AI enabled-use cases, with only 10 out of more than 600 cases identified. If current trends persist, 341 million women and girls will remain without electricity by 2030, 85% of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. Without closing digital gender gaps and ensuring women have the technical skills to design, use, and govern AI systems, these tools risk reinforcing, rather than reducing, the barriers women face in the energy transition.

Finally, SEforALL connects gender, energy, and fashion in the Threads of transformation: Fashion, energy & women at the intersection of climate action, to demonstrate how one of the world’s most energy-intensive industries has specific gendered impacts. Responsible for 2-8% of global carbon emissions and nearly 20% of global wastewater, the fashion sector consumes roughly one trillion kWh of electricity annually. Women make up about 60% of the global fashion workforce, yet often occupy the lowest-paid, least-secure jobs. Empowering women-led enterprises and ensuring equitable access to clean energy across supply chains can transform fashion from a high-emission industry into a force for accelerating progress on SDG 7 and SDG 5.

Powering a data-driven, gender-responsive energy future

From improving the quality of global gender-energy data to integrating equality considerations into AI and industry, SEforALL’s Gender & Youth programme is turning data into action. Closing gender data gaps is about ensuring that women and girls are empowered as meaningful participants to the sustainable energy transition.

In achieving rights, justice, and action for all women and girls, the path forward is clear: better data makes better decisions. And better decisions mean a more sustainable energy future. 

By Wei Li — Project Officer, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)

When we talk about energy transitions, we often focus on megawatts, finance and policies. But every transition ultimately affects people, from how families cook to who gets access to jobs in growing industries.

Through our Energy Transition and Investment Plans (ETIPs), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) collaborates with governments to develop actionable roadmaps toward cleaner and more resilient energy systems. These plans help countries and regions align climate ambition with economic growth and financing strategies. 

Gender is an important consideration in developing these plans.  This is because the current energy system does not affect everyone equally. In many developing regions, women are primarily responsible for household energy tasks such as cooking, making them key energy managers within their homes and communities. Yet 2.1 billion people still lack access to clean cooking, exposing women and children to harmful indoor air pollution and time-consuming fuel collection. At the same time, women remain underrepresented in the energy sector, making up only about 20% of the global energy workforce and just 18% of senior leadership roles. 

Expanding access to modern energy can reduce these daily burdens while improving health, saving time and opening opportunities for education, employment and leadership — enabling women to participate more fully as energy consumers, producers and decision-makers.

This is why gender is integrated across our energy planning activities, from developing ETIPs to capacity-building workshops. I have seen first-hand how gender is treated not just as an afterthought. It is intentionally considered in how opportunities are created, how jobs are supported and how investments are designed, ensuring women are both reflected in the plans and positioned to benefit from the transitions they enable.

Sierra Leone: Linking Energy Planning to National Gender Commitments

In Sierra Leone, gender integration reflects national priorities and commitments. The ETIP dedicates a full chapter to “Gender, Education & Youth,” aligning with the country’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act, which mandates at least  30% representation of women in leadership across public and private sectors.

The plan connects this national commitment to concrete strategies. It proposes low-interest loans, grants and subsidies for women-owned and led sustainable energy enterprises, alongside gender-responsive incentives to support clean energy and transport adoption. It also calls for increased investment in STEM education to make it more accessible for girls, while recognizing women’s roles in agriculture and ensuring gender remains central to national climate policies.

Here, gender is integrated as part of a broader development and climate agenda, linking energy transition efforts with economic participation and leadership opportunities for women.

Powering Opportunity: Expanding Jobs for Women across ETIPs

Beyond policy design, ETIPs also highlight the economic opportunities created by the energy transition, including new jobs in renewable energy, energy efficiency and electricity access. Ensuring that women can access these opportunities is an important part of gender-responsive energy planning.

​​For example, the Sierra Leone ETIP projects nearly 30,000 new energy sector jobs, highlighting roles for women in installing, maintaining and managing 7,156 potential mini-grid sites. The Barbados ETIP estimates 1,500 new renewable energy jobs, urging companies to hire and retain more women. Ghana’s ETIP foresees 400,000 net additional jobs from the energy transition, emphasizing equal opportunities for men and women. In larger economies, the potential is even greater: Nigeria’s ETIP projects 840,000 new jobs, while Kenya’s anticipates 500,000 with women expected to play key roles in emerging clean energy industries.

Realizing these opportunities will require building the right skills for the transition. Across ETIPs, education and training are highlighted as key enablers, from integrating renewable energy topics into school curricula to expanding vocational training. Importantly, many initiatives focus on opening these pathways to women through STEM scholarships, targeted training and support for women-led enterprises.

From Plans to Participation: Capacity Building in Action

Our capacity-building workshops on energy transition planning are where strategies move from paper to practice. From the outset, we encourage participating governments and institutions to nominate women representatives, creating more inclusive spaces for technical energy discussions.

In our recent workshops in Manila (59% women participation), Bangkok (47% women participation), Vienna (43% women participation) and Kenya (52% women participation) — we saw strong female participation and impact.

They contributed to modeling discussions, scenario development and sector analyses, helping refine assumptions and priorities.Through hands-on exercises and technical discussions, they deepened their understanding of modeling and planning processes, strengthened their confidence to engage in national energy decision-making and gained the tools to continue contributing to their countries’ energy plans. 

For me, this is where gender inclusion becomes tangible. It is not about creating leadership overnight, but about ensuring that women are present, heard and equipped to contribute meaningfully to decisions that shape their countries’ energy futures.