Renewable energies play an important role in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They are cited in three of the objectives (7, 12 and 16 directly), although they can also contribute indirectly to others.

The most obvious relationship occurs with objective 7: “Ensure access to affordable, safe, sustainable and modern energy for all.” The first paragraph of the objective states: “Energy is essential for almost all the great challenges and opportunities facing the world today. Whether for employment, security, climate change, food production or to increase income. Universal access to energy is essential”.

In the text of the declaration, the United Nations elaborates further: “Working to achieve the goals of this objective is especially important as it directly affects the achievement of other sustainable development goals. It is vital to support new economic and labor initiatives that ensure universal access to modern energy services, improve energy efficiency and increase the use of renewable sources to create more sustainable and inclusive communities and for resilience to environmental problems such as climate change”.

The main risk is a slow pace in regards to development: “Progress in all areas of sustainable energy is not up to what is needed to achieve universal access and achieve the goals of this Objective. The use of renewable energy in sectors such as heating and transportation should be increased. Likewise, public and private investments in energy are necessary; as well as higher levels of financing and policies with bolder commitments, in addition to the willingness of countries to adopt new technologies on a much broader scale”.

Objective number 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production modalities) also involves the energy sector by linking it with a shift in the culture of consumption towards more sustainable behaviors. “Consumption and sustainable production consist of promoting the efficient use of resources and energy, the construction of infrastructures that do not harm the environment, the improvement of access to basic services and the creation of ecological jobs, fairly remunerated and with Good working conditions All this translates into a better quality of life for all and, in addition, helps to achieve general development plans, which reduce economic, environmental and social costs, increase competitiveness and reduce poverty”.

Finally, objective 16 (Adopt urgent measures to combat climate change and its effects) once again gives an important role to the energy sector. In his explanation, he states: “At present, we have viable solutions within our reach so that countries can have a more sustainable and more environmentally friendly economic activity. Attitudes change accelerates as more people are turning to renewable energy and other solutions to reduce emissions and increase adaptation efforts. But climate change is a global challenge that does not respect national borders. It is a problem that requires the international community to work in a coordinated and precise way for developing countries to move towards a low carbon economy”.