On the road to affordable and clean energy: Assessing the progress of European countries toward meeting SDG 7

Abstract

Long term sustainability of energy is a critically important goal of sustainable development globally. In light of new initiatives such as the UN's Agenda 2030 or the Paris Agreement, assessing the progress of EU countries towards reaching ambitious sustainability goals is inevitable. The aim of the paper is to assess the progress of EU countries toward meeting sustainable development goal on affordable and clean energy. The results of the analysis can be described as balanced and stable, although differences between individual countries are significant in cases of some indicators. Each EU country must, however, take a comprehensive view of SDG7 implementation. Sweden, being the first on the list, as well as Luxembourg, being the last one, both have strengths, yet also areas of improvement. Multi-criteria analysis has thrown a spotlight on the Achilles heel of the EU countries disregard of which might cause serious problems in the future.