Oil majors BP, Shell, Equinor and TotalEnergies have pledged a $500 million joint investment intended to increase energy access for people in key regions.
Making the announcement at COP29 in Baku, the joint investment seeks to support promising, high-impact projects, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia.
The commitment to invest supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (UN SDG7), which aims to reduce the number of people without access to electricity and clean cooking.
Murray Auchincloss, CEO of British Petroleum commented: “It is early days, but we hope that by jointly investing, we will be able to contribute to wider efforts to tackle the very real challenge of access to energy. Over time, we believe it can help to create a more inclusive energy future for some of the many millions of people who lack that access today.”
Despite ongoing efforts, progress towards universal energy access has stalled, particularly amidst recent macroeconomic shocks and rising energy prices.
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In 2022, the number of people without access to electricity globally increased by around 10m to 685m.
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.
Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell said: “We want to support accelerated progress towards universal energy access as we believe 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.”
The oil majors investment aims to support various solutions to the problem, including solar home systems, mini/metro grids, clean cooking solutions, and enabling technologies (such as e-mobility, energy storage and management solutions).
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.
A global private equity firm with a strong track record in impact investing, has been selected to manage the joint investment.
Anders Opedal, CEO of Equinor added: “This joint investment brings together four leading energy companies investing in emerging countries. We believe 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.”
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