October, 2011

Energy Services for the Millennium Development Goals

A common finding of the ten Task Forces of the UN Millennium Proj­ect has been the urgent need to improve access to energy services as essential inputs for meeting each MDG. Without increased investment in the energy sector, the MDGs will not be achieved in the poorest countries. Under the leadership of Professor Vijay Modi of Columbia University, the Project has collaborated with ESMAP, UNDP, and the World Bank to prepare Energy Services for the Millennium Development Goals. The report underscores the strong links between energy services and achieving the MDG outcomes and puts forward a practical strategy for providing improved energy services to the world’s poor. As a major contribution to our understanding of how to achieve the MDGs, the authors propose quantitative and time-bound energy targets for low-income countries and derive goal-oriented strategies for meet­ing them.