The Global Commission to End Energy Poverty
At the current rate of progress, 650 million people will still lack access to electricity by 2030. We formed the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty in 2019 to forge an actionable consensus among leading investors, utilities, and policymakers to galvanize global action behind a viable pathway to provide electricity to hundreds of millions of under-served homes and businesses more quickly, sustainably and cost-effectively than the current trajectory.
Comprised of heads of development banks, utilities, and off-grid firms, along with senior academics, industry leaders, and investors, the Commission operates under the joint chairmanship of The Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz, and the Africa Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina.
- $30billion
current annual total global investment in electricity access
- $52billion
needed per year to meet our universal access goal and achieve SDG 7
- 15percent
of global funding goes to Sub Saharan Africa, which has 15 of the top 20 countries with energy access deficits
The Commission is working to fast-track sustainable power solutions, investments, and partnerships that will deploy globally over the next decade to provide electricity to hundreds of millions in pursuit of the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 7.
Researching Solutions & Building Global Partnerships
The Rockefeller Foundation launched the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty to attract investment in the energy sector of low-access countries, build partnerships, and dramatically accelerate change with the ultimate goal of ending energy poverty even before the 2030 target outlined under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Specifically, it is building support for integrated electrification strategies to unleash the full potential of distributed energy, incentivize utilities to expand their services to new customers, and foster the right blend of public and private investment in order to dramatically bend the curve on expanding last-mile electrification. To make this effort possible, the Foundation is working with the MIT Energy Initiative to produce high-quality research, data and evidence.
Our mission is to forge an actionable consensus among leading investors, utilities, and policy-makers that accelerates the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7, and ensures access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all by 2030.
The Global Commission's First Meetings
The Rockefeller Foundation, the MIT Energy Initiative and Global Commission commissioners and co-chairs were focused on developing Integrated Distribution Framework (IDF) business models, exploring financing for electricity access initiatives, overcoming barriers to regional cooperation on bulk power supply, investigating ways to efficiently manage and operate utilities, and achieving economic impact and sustainable development through access to electricity.
The UN General Assembly and Climate Week in New York 2019
120 energy sector leaders came together for discussions with the Commission on the development of a universal electrification fund, a new framework for measuring energy access and global development, and the urgent need to achieve SDG7.
Learn More about The Global CommissionMeet our Partners & Grantees
To reach those who remain beyond the reach of the grid will require not only redoubled investment, but also innovative thinking and cooperative action on the part of a host of individuals and institutions.
Ernest J. MonizProfessor of Physics & Engineering Systems Emeritus MIT, and former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Co-chair, Global Commission to End Energy PovertyEconomies cannot develop in the dark, but with a combination of distributed energy solutions and smart-grid expansion we can achieve universal, economically impactful electrification.
Akinwumi AdesinaPresident of the African Development Bank, Co-chair, Global Commission to End Energy Poverty
- Report
GCEEP Electricity Access 2020 Report
A third of all humanity lacks access to reliable power. This blunt reality drives immense social inequities. Access to power spells the difference, literally, between darkness and light. It determines whether you have modern healthcare, transportation and telecommunications. Clean fuels for cooking and heating offer an escape from chronic respiratory illness. Reliable power opens the […]Download PDF - Report
Global Commission to End Energy Poverty
This Inception Report marks the launch of the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty.Download PDF