SDG 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

Pioneers in the energy transition with an investment of 120 billion euros for 20 years

#environmental sustainability #society #renewable energy

Iberdrola group is the top producer of wind power in the world and a leader in renewable energy at the global level, thanks to its investments of 120 billion euros in the last 20 years, to which other €75 billion will be added until 2025 — increased to €150 billion in 2030, 90 % of which is aligned with the EU green taxonomy. Within its commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the company focuses particularly on SDG 7, Affordable and Clean Energy, and is working to bring electricity to everyone and to optimise energy use.

OUR CONTRIBUTION TO SDG 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

 Iberdrola group is committed to leading the energy transition, a task that it began 20 years ago, and in which it has invested €120 bn since then, making it the world leader in renewables (world leader in wind power, with more than 20 GW of own installed capacity¹). These investments — aimed at electrification of the economy, innovation and technological advances and greater consumer connectivity — will be supplemented by a historic investment plan for a further 75 billion by 2025, now increased to 150 billion by 2030, which shall be invested to achieve an installed renewable capacity of 60 GW by 2025 and 95 GW by the end of the decade, thus tripling the current figure — more than 35.5 GW at the close of the First Half 2021, after adding around 5.7 GW during 2019-2020. Likewise, 90 % of this long-term plan is aligned with the European Union taxonomy for mitigating climate change.

 80 % of the group's installed capacity comes from emissions-free sources¹. Furthermore, the company now generates 100 % of its energy with zero emissions in countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal.

 The offshore wind farm East Anglia ONE, in British waters in the North Sea, is the biggest wind facility in Iberdrola's history and one of the largest in the world in its class, with 714 MW. It is run by ScottishPower, the group's UK subsidiary, which is currently the only 100% renewable electricity company in the country.

 Energy efficiency: 73.7 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided over the last three years². In addition, the company has committed to become carbon neutral by 2030 in Europe, where its emissions for the period are already only 43 g/kWh, and reduce its global CO₂ emissions to 50 g/kWh by the end of the decade, becoming carbon neutral globally by 2050.

 Electricity for all: since the launch of the programme in January 2014, Iberdrola has brought electricity to 8.2 million people who previously had no access to this energy source, through projects based on modern forms of energy and with environmentally sustainable models developed in a number of Latin American and African countries. By 2030, the company has set itself the target of increasing the number of people benefiting to more than 16 million.

 Luces de Esperanza (Lights of Hope): a project instigated by Iberdrola México, in conjunction with Iluméxico, to bring electricity to 60 rural communities in Mexico, thanks to the installation of solar panels in homes, schools, health centres and community areas. The programme involves an investment of 60 million Mexican pesos and will benefit 12,000 people.

 Vulnerable customer protection procedures: 100 % cover for customers in a position of vulnerability in Spain. Warm Home Discount Programme and Price Cap in the UK. Operation Fuel in Connecticut (USA).

 A pioneer in Socially Responsible Investment, the group has become an international benchmark in green finance with more than 13.2 billion euros issued in green bonds since 2014.

¹ Data at the close of the First Half 2021.

² Data taken from the Sustainability Report.

MOVING FORWARD TO SDG 7

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY?

SDG 7 seeks to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. This means doubling the global rate of energy efficiency improvements, as well as substantially increasing the percentage of renewables in the energy mix.

WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT TO ACHIEVE SDG 7: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY?

Some 840 million people, over 10 % of the world's population, live without electricity¹ and a further billion are connected to unreliable and unstable power networks². Today, almost 3 billion people in Asia and the Southern Sahara still use polluting fuels for cooking (wood, charcoal, dung or soft coal)³. This represents 40 % of the population of the world.

This lack of access to reliable and sustainable energy creates serious problems both for human beings and for the environment. The UN reckons that four million premature deaths result as a consequence of air pollution derived from the burning of biomass for cooking and heating. The UN also claims that energy use constitutes 60 % of total global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), the main factor leading to climate change.

Facing up to this situation has become a vital goal on an international scale, which is why the UN has declared it necessary to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all as the SDG 7 of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, approved in September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda.

 SEE INFOGRAPHIC: Keys to understanding worldwide electricity shortages [PDF]

¹ World Bank.

² Frontiers 2017, the latest UN report on environmental challenges.

³ Tracking SDG7: The energy progress report, published in 2019 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), together with the World Bank, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the UN and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

SDG 7 TARGETS: AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

Despite the number of people in the world without access to electricity having reduced by more than half since 2000, it is vital to keep working to end this situation, otherwise by 2030 there will still be 674 million people living without electricity and 2.3 billion people using polluting cooking methods.

For this reason, the specific targets set for 2030 are:

• Ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services.
• Increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
• Enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology.
• Expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all.