SDG's Marathon Week: SDG 07 (Affordable & Free Energy)

Abdul Muizz, Talha Munir (BS-4 PA&G, Morning)

Supervised by: Dr. Athar Rashid

What are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, are set of 17 different interlinked global goals that are designed to be the “blueprint to achieve more sustainable future for all”. They were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. They transitioned from Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). SDGs were included in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution called “Agenda 2030”

What is Sustainable Development Goal 07?

Sustainable Development Goal 07 states that “to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”

SDG 07 is all about ensuring modern energy for all worldwide. Billions of people stand to benefit from the world’s achievement of sustainable development goal 7, with its targets on universal access. Renewable energy used to be the future, it's now the present. The energy transition marks the global shift from dependence on fossil fuels to a low/zero carbon future, but what will that involve? Solar power, offshore wind, geothermal, biomass and hydrogen all have their parts to play, backed by government policies and subsidy schemes to incentivize companies. In our blogs we will explore the different elements of this booming global industry.

According to energy governance group REN21, renewable energy will account for nearly half (45%) of global electricity generation by 2040.

This growing number is worthy of much excitement. Yet as renewable energy use continues to grow, it faces a looming challenge: in a world accustomed to having electricity on demand, renewable energy’s reliance on specific weather means that it offers intermittent availability, which could create a less reliable grid system over time.

Energy storage solutions can solve the problem and help the world get the most from sustainable energy production – all while creating even more job opportunities for specialists in the renewables & energy storage sectors.

Progress made by Pakistan:

Pakistan has been working on achieving sustainability till 2030, by following the 17 sustainable development goals given by UNGA. Pakistan has prioritized the sustainable development goals (SDGs) which will enable Pakistan to join the league of upper middle-class countries by 2030. Pakistan was the first country to adopt SDGs 2030 agenda thru a unanimous resolution of Parliament of Pakistan.

Pakistan has achieved progress in achieving sustainability. Many UN agencies in close cooperation with the government have been devotedly working for this cause. In 2018, the government of Pakistan designed and approved a National SDGs Framework that envisages a national vision to prioritize and localize SDGs. Localized provincial SDG frameworks are being formulated. The focus of the government is on mainstreaming SDGs in planning processes, ensuring strong monitoring, and reporting on SDGs, ensuring public financial allocations are aligned to SDGs and alternate financing modalities are being explored, and to benefit from use of technology to accelerate progress towards SDGs.

According to a survey, between 2000 and 2016, the number of people with electricity increased from 78 to 87 percent, and the numbers without electricity dipped to just below one billion. As the population continues to grow, so will the demand for cheap energy will also increase. An economy reliant on fossil fuels is creating drastic changes to our climate due to which global warming is increasing day by day.

1. Despite working on SDG 07, 1 in 7 people still lacks electricity and most of them live in rural    areas.
2. 60% of greenhouse gases are produced from the use of fossil fuels i.e., energy is the main contributor to climate change.
3. If more efficient energy standards are used, then building and industry electricity consumption could be reduced by 14%.
4. Many people still rely on polluting and unhealthy fuels for cooking.
5. In 2015, more than 20% of power was generated through renewable sources.
6. The renewable energy sector employed a record 10.3 million people in 2017.

Progress made by NUML:

In relevance to SDG 07, NUML has adopted the system of solar panels. Solar panels have been installed on different roof tops i.e.,

1. Nazir Library Block
2. Jinnah Block
3. Confucius Block
4. Ibn e Khaldoon Block

NUML has been investing in solar panels as they are the unlimited source of renewable energy. Installation of solar panels is still in process at the roof tops of different departments and blocks.

Campus Drive:

Giving awareness and educating the masses is the first step of any project. So, we conducted an awareness walk to give awareness to students at our university, regarding Sustainable development goals. Main aim of our awareness walk was to spread awareness regarding sustainable development goals so that every person could play its part in achieving a sustainable future. We designed pamphlets which contained information about the SDG 7, its targets, aims, and its importance. We went to different departments of the university and spread awareness related to our SDG. 

                     

In addition to awareness campaign, we also conducted interviews of different students. We tried to interview as many students as possible. Most of the students gave interviews willingly and some students denied giving interviews as they were camera shy. We went to different departments like Dept. of Psychology, Dept. of Computer Sciences (CS), Dept. of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Dept. of English, Dept. of International Relations (IR), and Dept. of Public Administration & Governance (PA&G). The questions we asked in the interviews are as follows:

1. What are Sustainable Development Goals?
2. Are you aware of sustainable development goal 7: ‘Ensure reliable and affordable energy for all’?
3. In your opinion what steps could be taken to achieve SDG 7?
4. Do you think whether the Govt. of Pakistan is working on achieving SDG 7? If yes, are you satisfied with their policies and working?

        

 

Results:

Almost all of the students from PA&G, and IR Department knew about sustainable development and its goals along with its targets and what they are aimed at. Rest of the students from other departments had little to no knowledge regarding Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals. After interacting with the students and interviewing them, we briefly explained them regarding Sustainable Development and SDGs with the hope that they would be able to learn something new and would search regarding the topic in their free time or when they get to their homes.

Webinar:

The next step in spreading the awareness was conducting a webinar. We conducted a webinar on Wednesday, February 23, 2022. It was a 15-minutes session which was followed by a question answer session. In the question answer session, all the questions by the participants were taken and answered briefly. A total of 25-30 people attended the webinar, among which 18 participants from NUML and rest were from different institutions like Bahria, NUST, Islamic etc. 

  

 

The webinar was aimed at providing the participants with brief knowledge about SDGs. Our webinar session covered the following topics:

1. What are Sustainable Development Goals?
2. Goals 7: Ensure access to affordable and reliable energy for all.
3. SDG 7 situation in Pakistan.
4. Challenges faced by Pakistan.
5. Solution to those challenges.
6.  How SDG 7 would benefit people and environment.

Recommendations:

In order to achieve SDG 7 following measures should be taken.

1. Investing in energy infrastructure.
2. Upgrading technology.
3. Investing in solar, wind, thermal and nuclear energy.
4. Ensure energy for all.

Conclusion:

Although this project was of short duration our experience was really good. This project was a source of our own learning about SDG’s along with spreading awareness. We all should play our parts as responsible citizens to save this country from water scarcity and other sanitation issues. We believe it's time to bring a change starting from our own selves, from our homes, from our doorstep. It’s high time to educate people, especially youth to play their part in achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Pakistan to preserve our resources and to protect our environment.