SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

We are leading the shift to clean energy that can power every industry, every business, every community, and every home. We are doing so by providing renewable energy to millions of people around the world and using our industry know-how to constantly improve how renewable energy solutions are designed, diversified, managed and scaled. Not only are we relieving society’s dependence on fossil fuels for our diverse energy needs, but we are making renewable alternatives increasingly accessible and affordable for more people, including those in rural communities and disadvantaged regions.

Managing trade-offs

By contributing to SDG 7, we are leveraging key synergies with the goals for Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) and for Industrial Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9) by creating green jobs. For example, our Allain Duhangan hydropower plant, situated in the mountains of Northern India, has created new jobs and stable incomes for women in the rural community, contributing positively towards the 8.5, 8.8, 9.1 and 9.2 targets. By displacing polluting sources of energy production, and thereby contributing to cleaner air quality and the reduction of pollution-related diseases, we are also leveraging the synergies pertaining to Good Health and Wellbeing (SDG 3).

As we drive progress on SDG 7, we are aware that establishing and scaling energy infrastructure, if managed improperly, may negatively impact the goals of Life on Land (SDG 15). We always seek to reduce these negative trade-offs. For example, where hydropower operations have impacted river ecosystems in Norway, we have successfully taken measures to strengthen salmon populations, contributing towards the 15.1 and 15.5 targets.