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

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-emission, low-carbon, climate-resilient, safe, efficient, modern, affordable 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;

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, energy efficiency and conservation, 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;

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 and regional organizations and other relevant stakeholders to promote investments in developing sustainable, inclusive and equitable energy systems, including, inter alia, by strengthening energy systems through cross-border grid connections, as appropriate, and to consider incorporating decentralized renewable energy solutions in energy planning, as appropriate, and recognizes that energy transition will take different paths in different parts of the world;

Also 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;

Encourages Governments, with the support of relevant stakeholders, as appropriate, to accelerate the transition towards sustainable economies, according to national policies and plans, through mitigation and adaptation strategies that improve energy efficiency and create more and better employment opportunities for all, including young people, in wage and self-employment;

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-emission, low-carbon and climate-resilient new and renewable resources 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;

Encourages the development of viable market-oriented strategies that could result in further rapid reductions in the cost of new and renewable resources 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;

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, and in this regard invites the Secretary-General, within existing resources, to convene dialogues, which could consist of a series of events, including discussions among energy policymakers and other stakeholders, in 2019, to be supported by the Secretariat, in order to discuss the implementation of the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All, including the global plan of action for the Decade, as described in the report of the Secretary-General, the summary of the deliberations of which would be incorporated into the report on the implementation of the present resolution;

Encourages the entities of the United Nations development system, within their respective mandates and taking into account the need to improve coordination among them, in the context of the implementation of resolutions 71/243 of 21 December 2016 and 72/279 of 31 May 2018, to assist countries, in particular at the country level, upon request by their Governments, by 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 by the end of 2019, 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-fourth 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-fourth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.