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

A/RES/72/224View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 19i Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, published in 2018.

What other versions does this mandate have?

10 versions · 2017–2025

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

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/142	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all	5,873	89%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/211	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all	5,580	89%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/157	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all	5,379	90%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/170	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all	4,965	83%Compare
2022	A/RES/76/210	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all	4,522	90%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

10 reports · 2017–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/80/374	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/211
2024	A/79/501	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/157
2023	A/78/201	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/170
2022	A/77/211	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/210
2021	A/76/206	Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/75/221

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 subjects

Energy Policy Renewable Energy Sources Sustainable Development Sustainable Energy

What’s in this document?

27 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All,¹³ 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,¹⁴ and also takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all;¹⁵

¹³A/72/156.

¹⁴See A/69/395, sect. III.

¹⁵A/72/160.

Also takes note of the role and activities of the International Renewable Energy Agency, and encourages the Agency to continue to support its members in the achievement of their renewable energy objectives;

Strongly encourages Governments and other relevant stakeholders to take actions to achieve universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy, increase the global share of new and renewable energy, improve the inclusion of developing countries in energy sector cooperation, where relevant, and increase the rate of improvement in energy efficiency for a clean, low-carbon, climate-resilient, safe, efficient, modern and sustainable energy system, given the systemic sustainable development benefits, while taking into consideration the diversity of national situations, priorities, policies, specific needs and challenges and capacities of developing countries, including their energy mix and energy systems;

Calls for ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, as such services are an integral part of poverty eradication measures, 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, safe 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 emergencies;

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 increased usage of sustainable, cleaner and more efficient cooking and heating methods in all countries, in particular developing countries;

Encourages Governments, the United Nations system and relevant stakeholders to leverage the cost-competitiveness of renewable energy, especially in off-grid areas, in order to achieve universal energy access, such as by establishing policy frameworks for metering and payment systems, requiring cost comparisons between grid extension and off-grid solutions, facilitating investment by domestic and foreign banks and educating students, communities, investors and entrepreneurs on renewable energy and energy efficiency, among other activities, where feasible and appropriate;

Calls upon Governments to expand the use of renewable energy beyond the power sector, taking into account national priorities and constraints, to industry, heating and cooling, construction and infrastructure and, in particular, the transport sector, including through sustainable sector coupling, in the context of sustainable development, including climate change, and calls for supportive policy initiatives and investments at the national and international levels;

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, and encourages, in accordance with national laws and regulations, the adoption of building performance codes and standards, energy efficiency labelling, the promotion of energy management systems, 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, which aim to promote the interconnectivity of clean and renewable energy infrastructure and improve energy efficiency;

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;

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

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

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,1 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;

Emphasizes, while noting progress, that the large-scale deployment of technologies has been uneven and that support is required to realize their 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;

Also emphasizes the value of regional and interregional approaches, which can, among other advantages, enhance the deployment of renewable energy by facilitating the sharing of experiences, reduce transaction costs, leverage economies of scale, enable greater cross-border interconnectivity to promote energy system reliability and resilience and augment domestic capacity-building, and recognizes the work of organizations and initiatives in that regard;

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 ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, including low-carbon and climate-resilient new and renewable sources of energy of demonstrated viability, especially focused on energy access and economic development in both urban and rural areas, while 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;

Encourages the development, dissemination, 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 Governments and 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 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;

Also encourages research and development and the development of viable market-oriented strategies that could result in further competitiveness and rapid reductions in the cost of sustainable energy;

Calls for national efforts to promote access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all and strengthened local engagement to complement current approaches, and reaffirms the commitment to supporting 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 the Secretary-General to continue efforts to promote the provision of stable, adequate 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;

Encourages the entities of the United Nations development system, within their respective mandates, in the context of the implementation of resolution 71/243 of 21 December 2016, to assist countries, upon request by their Governments, taking into account the need to improve coordination between them, and explicitly leveraging partnerships with other international organizations, donors and relevant stakeholders, including in their efforts to achieve universal access to sustainable energy and to accelerate its deployment;

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;

Calls upon the Secretary-General to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency and related sustainable practices in all United Nations facilities and operations around the world, set implementation targets and timelines, building on and avoiding duplication with existing initiatives, and report on progress, within the most relevant existing reporting frameworks;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session a report on the implementation of the present resolution, including activities carried out to mark the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-third session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”, unless otherwise agreed.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents