SDG 7 - Affordable and clean energy

In our education we are using teaching cases, assignments and videos to highlight the issues as well as the business challenges posed by the SDGs, and confront students with the complexities of working with the SDGs. Here we share these materials per SDG, showcasing material that is most directly relevant.

Access to affordable and clean energy is central to nearly every major challenge. More than a billion people still live without electricity, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa. SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy aims to provide energy to the largest number of people at the same time as ensuring it’s clean to produce. The transition to the production of energy from renewable sources is central to achieving SDG 7. There needs to be more and better access to clean energy, and more efforts to promote its integration into end uses.

It may sound simple, we just replace all fossil based energy with solar panels and windmills, right? Unfortunately it’s not all that simple

Caroline Kroes - Corporate strategist at the Port of Rotterdam

Right now, only a small proportion of energy comes from sustainable sources. Maria Chambel Leitão (MSc Finance and Investments 2018) presents the challenge of the increasing demand for energy and the simultaneous shift to cleaner ways of producing it.

Measures against climate change have implications for supply and demand; Dr Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal explores how they can be facilitated. He’s Assistant Professor in RSM’s Erasmus Centre for Future Energy Business, which focuses on the grand challenges linked to energy transition because of the different ways renewable energy can be produced.

The Port of Rotterdam produces a fifth of the Netherlands’ carbon emissions. Caroline Kroes is a corporate strategist at the Port, and explains how it has developed a strategy to become a leader in the transition to cleaner energy. Nevertheless, there are daunting challenges to overcome, given the importance of the infrastructure there.

Positive change in action

Want to start applying your knowledge? Here are easy tips related to SDG 7:

Use a lid when cooking and save energy.
Use renewable energy suppliers.
Save electricity by plugging appliances into a power strip and turning them off completely when not in use, including your computer.

Want to do more? Here are the Good Life Goals.

SDG cases focusing on SDG7

RSM has developed a case series addressing the Sustainable development goals, which contains at least one case that specifically touches upon one of the 17 SDGs.

Cases with a primary focus on SDG 7: