Ensuring Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All

A/RES/71/233View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 19iPromotion of new and renewable sources of energy, published in 2016.

What other versions does this mandate have?

10 versions · 2017–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/142

2025A/RES/80/142Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for allLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/211Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for allCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/157Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for allCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/77/170Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for allCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/210Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for allCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 topics

Energy Policy Renewable Energy Sources Sustainable Development Sustainable Energy

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2017.

2017A/72/156United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All report of the Secretary-General
2017A/72/160Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

31 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All, calls for the rapid implementation of the strategic objectives as defined in the global plan of action for the Decade, as described in a previous report of the Secretary-General on the topic, and also takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the promotion of new and renewable sources of energy;

Also takes note of the International Renewable Energy Agency work programme and budget for 2016–2017, and encourages the Agency to continue to support its members in the achievement of their renewable energy objectives;

Emphasizes that universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all is an integral part of poverty eradication and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Also emphasizes the need to improve access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all and environmentally sound energy services and resources for sustainable development, and takes into consideration the diversity of situations, national policies and specific needs of developing countries and countries with economies in transition;

Stresses the need to increase the share of new and renewable sources of energy in the global energy mix, as well as the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, as an important contribution to achieving universal access to sustainable modern energy services, and recognizes that the activities of countries in broader energy-related matters are prioritized according to their specific challenges, capacities and circumstances, including their energy mix and energy systems;

Emphasizes that improving energy efficiency, increasing the share of renewable energy and promoting cleaner and energy-efficient technologies are important for sustainable development, and also emphasizes the importance of promoting energy conservation, developing energy-saving technologies and products and establishing effective mechanisms to improve the efficient use of energy-related resources;

Also emphasizes the necessity of establishing a modern energy system that is clean, low-carbon, climate-resilient, safe and efficient, includes renewable energy sources, as appropriate, and delivers energy in line with needs so as to promote affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all;

Underscores the importance of access to cleaner and more efficient cooking and heating methods, welcomes ongoing efforts, and in this regard calls for the promotion of an enabling environment at the national and international levels for the promotion of the usage of sustainable, cleaner and more efficient cooking and heating methods, in all countries, in particular developing countries;

Emphasizes the potential of sustainable energy use to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, recognizes that increasing the deployment of renewable energy is a component of many countries’ nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,9 and urges effective and timely support for the full implementation of those contributions, as applicable;

Notes that the impacts of climate change can also threaten access to and the supply of energy, and also notes the importance of increasing the resilience of the energy sector to climate change, in particular regarding sources of renewable energy such as hydropower, among others;

Welcomes the significant cost reductions associated with renewable energy, and emphasizes that large-scale deployment of technologies has been uneven and that support is required to realize the technologies’ potential, along with appropriate policy initiatives and investments at the national and international levels, with Governments working in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including the private sector;

Invites all relevant funding institutions and bilateral and multilateral donors, as well as regional funding institutions, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, to continue ongoing efforts and take further action to provide financial resources, as appropriate, to support efforts aimed at the development of the energy sector in developing countries and countries with economies in transition on the basis of environment-friendly, low-carbon and climate-resilient new and renewable sources of energy of demonstrated viability, noting the potential catalytic effect of concessional and other finance and taking fully into account the development structure of energy-based economies of developing countries, and to assist in the attainment of the levels of investment necessary to expand renewable energy deployment and development, including beyond urban areas;

Encourages the development, dissemination and diffusion and transfer of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed, and highlights the importance of integrating sustainable energy in the Technology Facilitation Mechanism;

Stresses the importance of strategies and contributions by all relevant stakeholders to multi-stakeholder partnerships in ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, and encourages coordination and collaboration between the United Nations and relevant multi-stakeholder partnerships, such as Sustainable Energy for All;

Recognizes the catalytic effect of capacity-building and technical assistance on sustainable energy deployment, and encourages existing and new efforts to enable Governments from developing countries and relevant stakeholders to plan, finance, implement and monitor sustainable energy projects to further strengthen their national institutions and capacities;

Encourages efforts by Governments aimed at creating and developing an enabling environment at all levels to ensure the promotion of energy efficiency and the use of new and renewable sources of energy;

Also encourages the development of viable market-oriented strategies that could result in further rapid reductions in the cost of new and renewable sources of energy and could further increase the competitiveness of those technologies, including through the adoption, as appropriate, of public policies for research, development and market deployment, including rationalizing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption by removing market distortions, in accordance with national circumstances;

Recognizes that sustainable energy access and deployment can both improve and be accelerated by gender equality and women’s empowerment, and calls upon Governments, the United Nations development system and other stakeholders to increase educational and capacity-building programmes for women in the sector, to promote women’s full, equal and effective participation and leadership in the design and implementation of energy policies and programmes, to mainstream a gender perspective in such policies and programmes and to ensure women’s full and equal access to and use of new, renewable and sustainable energy to enhance their economic empowerment, including employment and other income-generating opportunities;

Calls upon Governments, as well as relevant international and regional organizations and other relevant stakeholders, to combine, as appropriate, the increased use of new and renewable energy resources, more efficient use of energy, greater reliance on advanced energy technologies, including cleaner fossil fuel technologies, and the sustainable use of traditional energy resources;

Calls for ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, as such services are an integral part of poverty eradication, human dignity, quality of life, economic opportunity, the combating of inequality, the promotion of health and the prevention of morbidity and mortality, access to education, clean drinking water and sanitation, food security, disaster risk reduction and resilience, climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental impact reduction, social inclusion and gender equality, including for persons affected by humanitarian crises;

Welcomes the expansion of renewable energy capacity additions, which are now greater than those of other energy power sources, as well as the net positive job contribution of renewables;

Recognizes the importance of expanding the use of renewable energy beyond the power sector, encourages further efforts to promote renewable energy use in industry, construction and infrastructure and in particular in the transport sector, in the context of sustainable development, including climate change, and calls for greater efforts and attention to those sectors, including through policy initiatives and investments at the national and international levels in order to scale up new and renewable energy technologies and low-carbon technologies that can reduce negative environmental impacts, especially in the near term;

Also recognizes that current global progress in improving energy efficiency falls well below the pace necessary to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030;

Encourages the adoption of building performance codes and standards, the uptake of renewable energy, energy efficiency labelling, the retrofitting of existing buildings and public procurement policies on energy, among other modalities as appropriate, as well as the prioritization of smart grid systems, district energy systems and community energy plans to improve synergies between renewable energy and energy efficiency;

Calls for national efforts to promote access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, and reaffirms its commitment to support subnational and local efforts, taking advantage of their direct control, where applicable, of local infrastructure and codes to foster uptake in end-use sectors, such as residential, commercial and industrial buildings, industry, transport, waste and sanitation;

Encourages Governments, international organizations and other relevant stakeholders to use and promote an integrated resource planning and management approach in their energy strategies, which considers energy choices in the context of linked sectors, inter alia, water, air quality and food, taking into account national circumstances;

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue efforts to promote the mobilization of stable and predictable financial resources and technical assistance for sustainable energy and to enhance the effectiveness, coordination and full utilization of appropriate international funds for the effective implementation of national and regional high-priority projects for ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, and requests the Secretary-General, within existing resources, to make concrete proposals on the strengthening, through existing arrangements, of both inter-agency and intergovernmental coordination, and institutional support on energy issues, and to give appropriate consideration to progress on sustainable energy in the context of the 2030 Agenda in his report on the implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session;

Calls upon the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates and resources, to ensure that no one is left behind and no country is left behind in the implementation of the present resolution;

Requests the Secretary-General to prepare, in consultation with Member States and other relevant stakeholders, a report on the activities carried out to mark the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All and related activities within the United Nations system for submission to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session;

Calls upon the Secretary-General to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency and related sustainable practices in all United Nations facilities around the world;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session a report on the implementation of the present resolution, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-second session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, a sub-item entitled “Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”, unless otherwise agreed.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents