We have received the following from DESA:
Recognizing the importance of energy for sustainable development, the United Nations in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has devoted Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) to energy - the first-ever universal goal on energy, with five targets on access, efficiency, renewables and means of implementation. SDG 7 is inextricably interlinked to other SDGs and related targets, including those relating to poverty eradication, food security, clean water and sanitation, health, education, infrastructure, innovation, job creation, and the empowerment of youth and women. Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all is fundamental to realizing the vision of the 2030 Agenda. A shift toward sustainable energy solutions is also essential to the achievement of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The ambition of the 2030 Agenda calls for equally ambitious means of implementation, including enabling environments, effective institutions, technology cooperation, capacity building, scaled-up financing and multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve sustainable development.
In this context, the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), serving as the central platform for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, will undertake the first global review of SDG7 in July 2018, under the auspices of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). To help provide a solid substantive foundation for the review of SDG7, a global preparatory meeting in support of the review of SDG7 at the 2018 High-Level Political Forum, jointly organized by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), will be held on 21-23 February 2018 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The global preparatory meeting will help facilitate exchange of lessons, insights and experiences among Member States, UN entities and other international organizations and all stakeholders, and consider challenges and opportunities for accelerating progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. This conference is supported by the Governments of Norway, the Republic of Korea (through DESA’s UN Office on Sustainable Development), the People’s Republic of China (through the UN Peace and Development Fund), Germany, The Netherlands, and the European Commission, among others.
The registration for the Global SDG 7 Conference is now open to participation from all stakeholders.
More information about the conference can be found at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/EnergyConference.
Registration to the Conference (deadline: 15th January 2018) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/EnergyConference/registration
Side Event and Exhibits Application (deadline: 31st December 2017) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/EnergyConference/sideevents
We look forward to your participation in the conference and working with all of you in preparing for a successful 2018 meeting of the HLPF, under the auspices of ECOSOC.