The SDGs have as Goal 7: “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” The inclusion of modern energy access as an explicit goal in the post-2015 development agenda is crucial, reflecting the global realization that development is not possible without energy and sustainable development is not possible without sustainable energy.

Energy directly links to all 17 SDGs and to 56 of the targets. Addressing the linkages and multiple challenges of increasing energy access will require a variety of solutions that depend on economic conditions, policy priorities and a sincere international effort. Yet, given the myriad requirements of all countries, both developed and developing, and the large number of goals and targets, there is a risk that energy could be drowned out, despite its enabling powers. Sustaining a growing population requires securing increasing supplies of three basic commodities: energy, water and food, all of which are closely intertwined. The interactions among the three are complex and dynamic, and sectoral issues cannot be looked at in isolation from one another.

OFID has adopted the energy-water-food nexus as the central pillar of its Corporate Plan 2016–2025, thereby aligning the Plan with the new development agenda and its approach for the next 15 years. In seeking to achieve universal energy access, all energy sources need to be tapped. Renewable energy sources will play a vital role in a global energy supply mix characterized by diversity. As desirable as renewables might be in the long term, however, they do not necessarily represent a feasible option for poorer countries at the current time. Efforts to eradicate energy poverty, therefore, must be technology-neutral. In addition, the technical solutions must be tailored to the conditions of each country.