Energy Majors Invest $500 Million to Support’s UN’s SDG7

Four global energy majors – TotalEnergies, bp, Equinor and Shell – on Friday announced a joint investment commitment of $500 million in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (UN SDG7), which aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

A global private equity firm with a strong track record in impact investing, will manage the joint investment. Their expertise will support the investments being strategically directed to create both social impact and financial returns, while engaging with governments, international organisations, financial institutions, the private sector, civil society, and philanthropies. This includes sharing learnings, providing technical assistance, and addressing market barriers.

Over the coming years this has the potential to support UN SDG 7 while also generating co-benefits like job creation and improved health outcomes.

Despite ongoing efforts, progress towards universal energy access has stalled, particularly amidst recent macroeconomic shocks and rising energy prices, and these four companies plan to create positive energy access impact for people in key regions over the coming years.

In 2022, the number of people without access to electricity globally increased by around 10 million to 685 million. Additionally, approximately 2.1 billion people, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, lack access to clean cooking facilities, disproportionately impacting women and girls who often bear the brunt of domestic responsibilities.

The joint investment seeks to support promising, high-impact projects aiming to help millions of people in underserved communities gain access to electricity and improved cooking conditions. Their intent is for the committed capital to be invested in a broad range of solutions, including solar home systems, mini/metro grids, clean cooking solutions, and enabling technologies (such as e-mobility, energy storage and management solutions).

TotalEnergies Commit $400 Million

TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said that his company was deeply committed to making energy accessible to all. Around a third of our development in electricity in the coming years will be in emerging countries, which will enable about 40 million people to benefit from access to electricity.

“Furthermore, we are committed to investing $400 million in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) facilities to develop clean cooking solutions in Africa and India, which will help 100 million people access healthier, more sustainable and more reliable energy. With this new joint initiative with our peers, we are activating another lever to contribute to high-impact local projects to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 by 2030,” he explained.

CEO of bp Murray Auchincloss, hoped that by jointly investing, they will be able to contribute to wider efforts to tackle the very real challenge of access to energy. Over time, bp believe it can help to create a more inclusive energy future for some of the many millions of people who lack that access today.

Equinor’s President and CEO Anders Opedal said that this effort will help close some of the energy access gaps, which is a key part in reaching the global ambition of a just and equitable energy transition.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan said they Shell will support accelerated progress towards universal energy access as the company believes it has the power to transform lives. This joint investment will help to do that. By working collectively to overcome key energy access challenges we can achieve sustained impact and drive real change, he added.