ABSTRACT
Energy availability supports the realization of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This chapter delves into the shortcomings of SDG 7, affordable and clean energy, from an ecological economic perspective. Addressing sustainable scale, just distribution, and efficient allocation, this analysis demonstrates the need to develop more holistic SDG 7 targets that center on well-being within planetary boundaries, while breaking from the imperative of (un)economic growth for high-energy societies. The chapter emphasizes the importance of essential concepts for an energy transition, including net energy, energy footprint, energy density, rebound, and sufficiency. These concepts can be used to guide the formulation of targets that account for embeddedness of human energy systems within the broader earth communities, and thus more fundamentally consider what is needed to ensure energy for all.
