Tracking progress towards accessible, green and efficient energy: The Inclusive Green Energy index

Abstract

This paper presents an index to evaluate progress in achieving the key dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goal 7, which entails ensuring “access to affordable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” The key aspects of this index, called the Inclusive Green Energy index, are: (i) it focuses on changes, rather than on levels, of the access, greenness and use of energy; (ii) it exhibits a decomposability feature that permits integrating several dimensions, both positive and negative, in a friendly way; and (iii) the evaluation of progress is made relative to some reference values (targets and thresholds) that can differ between countries. We calculate the Inclusive Green Energy index of progress for 157 countries using data from 2004 to 2014 on three indicators intended to capture inclusiveness, greenness, and efficiency of energy use. The results show that progress has, on average, been positive across the world, with more than 87 per cent of the sample of countries experiencing some degree of progress. However, progress is smaller for the Middle East and North African and Sub-Saharan African countries and it is negative for most of the countries that exhibit low levels of human development, as measured by the Human Development Index. Furthermore, fewer than one in four of the countries in the sample have an Inclusive Green Energy index commensurate with having met their targets. This suggests that much remains to be done globally with regard to being on track towards meeting their Sustainable Development Goal 7 by 2030.