Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy

Affordable & Clean Energy


Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential. Working towards this goal is especially important as it interlinks with other Sustainable Development Goals. Focusing on universal access to energy, increased energy efficiency and the increased use of renewable energy through new economic and job opportunities is crucial to creating more sustainable and inclusive communities and resilience to environmental issues like climate change.

At the current time, there are approximately 3 billion people who lack access to clean-cooking solutions and are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution. Additionally, slightly less than 1 billion people are functioning without electricity and 50% of them are found in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. Fortunately, progress has been made in the past decade regarding the use of renewable electricity from water, solar and wind power and the ratio of energy used per unit of GDP is also declining.

However, the challenge is far from being solved and there needs to be more access to clean fuel and technology and more progress needs to be made regarding integrating renewable energy into end-use applications in buildings, transport and industry. Public and private investments in energy also need to be increased and there needs to be more focus on regulatory frameworks and innovative business models to transform the world’s energy systems.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

West African Women's Association

WAWA 1984 Dakar Senegal E

West Nordic Council

1985 Reykjavik Iceland F g

Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council

Honolulu HI USA G g

WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities

GNAFCC 2010 Geneva Switzerland F y

WindEurope

1982 Brussels Belgium D t

Winrock International

1985 Little Rock AR USA G

WMO Hydrology and Water Resources Programme

HWRP Geneva Switzerland F g

WMO Resource Mobilization Office

RMO Geneva Switzerland K g

Women in Nuclear

WIN 1989 Perchtoldsdorf Austria F

Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management

WOCAN Washington DC USA G

Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, International

WECAN 2011 Mill Valley CA USA G

Women's International Network of Utility Professionals

WINUP 1923 Grove City OH USA N t

Women's International News Gathering Service

WINGS 1986 Denman Is BC Canada G

Working Committee of the Malting Industry of the EU

1959 Brussels Belgium E t

World Agroforestry Centre

ICRAF 1977 Nairobi Kenya E

World Alliance for Clean Technologies

Lausanne Switzerland J

World Alliance for Low Carbon Cities

WALCC Helsinki Finland J

World Association for Sustainable Development

WASD 2003 London UK C

World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations

WAITRO 1970 St Augustin Germany B yt

World Association of Nuclear Operators

WANO 1989 London UK C

World Benchmarking Alliance

WBA Amsterdam Netherlands C y

World Bioenergy Association

WBA 2008 Stockholm Sweden C

World Biogas Association

WBA London UK J

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

WBCSD 1995 Geneva Switzerland C

World Climate Foundation

WCF Copenhagen Denmark J

World Council for Renewable Energy

WCRE 2001 Dessau Germany C

World Council of Power Utilities

WCPU 1995 Delhi India D

World Council on City Data

WCCD Toronto ON Canada J

World Energy & Meteorology Council

WEMC 2015 Norwich UK C

World Energy Cities Partnership

WECP 1995 Houston TX USA J

World Energy Council

WEC 1923 London UK B

World Energy Forum

New York NY USA F

World EOD Foundation

Watford UK F f

World Evangelical Alliance Sustainability Center

WEA Sustainability Center 2018 Bonn Germany G

World Farmers' Organisation

WFO 2011 Rome Italy C

World Federation of United Nations Associations

WFUNA 1946 New York NY USA E

World for World Organization

WFWO 2001 Rome Italy G

World Forest Institute

WFI 1989 Portland OR USA G j

World Forestry Center, Portland

WFC 1989 Portland OR USA G

World Forum Offshore Wind

WFO 2018 Hamburg Germany F

World Future Council Foundation

WFC 2007 Hamburg Germany F f

World Geospatial Industry Council

WGIC 2018 The Hague Netherlands C t

World Green Infrastructure Network

WGIN 2008 Toronto ON Canada F

World Health Innovation Summit

WHIS Carlisle UK J

World Health Organization

WHO 1946 Geneva Switzerland B g

World Information Service on Energy

WISE 1978 Amsterdam Netherlands F

World LPG Association

WLPGA 1987 Neuilly-sur-Seine France F

World Maritime Technology Congress

WMTC 2003 J c

World Mining Congress

WMC 1958 Katowice Poland C y

World Neighbors

WN 1951 Oklahoma City OK USA G v

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