Energy majors BP, Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies have agreed to jointly invest $500 million in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 (UN SDG7), which aims to provide access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy.
In a joint media release, the four companies said that progress toward universal energy access has stalled, particularly amid recent macroeconomic shocks and rising energy prices. In 2022, the number of people without access to electricity globally increased by around 10 million to 685 million, they noted.
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, the companies said.
The $500 million commitment will be directed to support high-impact projects, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
"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", Murray Auchincloss, CEO of BP, said.
The companies aim to invest in a wide range of clean energy solutions, including solar home systems, mini-grids, clean cooking, and enabling technologies like electric mobility and energy storage.
BP, Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies have selected a global private equity firm to manage the joint investment, aiming to create both social impact and financial returns.
"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", said Anders Opedal, President and CEO of Equinor.
"We want to support 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", Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell, added.
"With this new joint initiative with our peers, we are activating another lever to contribute to high-impact local projects to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 by 2030," Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said.