From September 24 to 25, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) G7 community, including ENERGIA, gathered in New York at the SDG7 Action Forum, held alongside the UN General Assembly and the Climate Ambition Summit.  

At the UN General Assembly, commitments to a just and inclusive energy transition often felt overshadowed by competing geopolitical interests. Yet, at the SDG7 Action Forum, the message was unambiguous: the next five years must deliver bold, accelerated action on SDG7 while preparing the ground for a post-2030 agenda. 

SDG7 has been a game-changer—but not for everyone 

There was a universal consensus that SDG7 has been transformative. Energy, once absent from the Millennium Development Goals, is now a driver of political will and investment. The 2025 UN SDG Progress Report recognized advances in narrowing the electricity access gap, placing SDG7 ahead of many other goals. 

But the same report delivered a sobering truth: progress on clean cooking is stagnant, and women and children continue to suffer most. Women still account for only 32 percent of renewable energy jobs, and a mere five percent of utility board positions. If current trends persist, by 2030 more than 300 million women will remain without electricity and nearly 900 million without clean cooking. 

Without bold action, women and girls will keep paying the price with their health, their time, their safety, and their futures. This is not just a missed opportunity. It is a policy failure. It is an injustice. 

The invisibility of women in energy 

Why do these gaps persist? Because women remain invisible in energy data. SDG7 is one of only six goals without a dedicated gender indicator. Without sex-disaggregated data, women’s realities are erased, their needs ignored, their contributions dismissed. 

What is invisible cannot be measured. What is not measured is rarely prioritized. And what is not prioritized will never be funded. 

This invisibility is not technical oversight; it is systemic discrimination by omission. 

Breaking the silence with data 

But momentum is building to change this. At the High-Level Political Forum this year, all five UN organizations responsible for collecting data and tracking SDG 7 indicators, UN Women, and the Gender and Energy Compact jointly called for gender indicators in global energy reporting. Champion governments, including Sweden, Canada, Iceland, and the African Union, stood behind the call. 

At the Forum, the session Power in Numbers showcased governments already collecting and applying gender-disaggregated energy data. And this November, the International Energy Agency will launch its Indicator Handbook on People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions at the G20 Summit in South Africa, a tool for governments to integrate gender into their energy policies. 

But policymakers must hear this clearly: tools and handbooks are not enough. Data alone will not shift power. Only political will can. 

The road ahead: from data to power 

The next two years are crowded with opportunities and risks. The 2026 High-Level Political Forum, which will conduct the final global review of SDG7, will highlight gender-energy interlinkages. COP30, where a new Gender Action Plan under the UNFCCC will be endorsed, will test whether gender-just transitions are treated as political priorities or political slogans. 

Success will depend on governments putting gender indicators squarely on the intergovernmental table, civil society keeping pressure alive, and the wider development community adopting a shared narrative that is evidenced, politically backed, and collectively owned. 

Because inclusion begins with visibility. 

Call to Action 

We know women can drive inclusive energy transitions because they already are. The 2025 UN-Energy Annual Progress Report on Energy Compacts shows that through the Gender and Energy Compact, co-convened by ENERGIA, UNIDO, SEforALL, and GWNET, 108 signatories have empowered over 200,000 women with skills for the clean energy transition, creating over 100,000 jobs and enterprises. 

These are not symbolic victories. They are proof of what is possible when efforts are intentional: not about “adding women in,” but about empowering women as central actors in the transition. 

That is why ENERGIA calls for bold action in four priority areas: 

1. Energy poverty, including time poverty and unpaid care work: Recognize and address the disproportionate burdens borne by women.
2. Employment and leadership: Remove barriers to women’s full participation in the clean energy workforce and decision-making. 
3. Entrepreneurship: Invest in women-led enterprises as a driver of inclusive growth. 
4. Enabling environments: Embed gender-responsive planning, budgeting, and regulation into energy policy. 

The global community must move beyond rhetoric. Visibility must lead to accountability. Accountability must lead to transformation. 

A reality check policymakers cannot ignore 

In conclusion, the SDG7 Action Forum gave us a reality check: progress is real, but not enough, not fast enough, and not inclusive enough. 

If women remain invisible in energy data, they will remain invisible in energy policy, investment, and benefits. And if that happens, the promise of SDG7, to leave no one behind, will be betrayed. 

Inclusion begins with visibility. Policymakers have a choice: ensure women are seen, counted on, and empowered to drive the transitions we urgently need, or accept responsibility for an energy future that entrenches inequality. Anything less is not just a missed opportunity; it is an injustice the world cannot afford.