Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency Executive Director, considers energy to be at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all countries of the world, in order to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) pave the way for sustainable economic development that leaves no one behind.  Energy is truly an enabler for many SDGs - from expanding access to electricity, to improving clean cooking fuels, from reducing wasteful energy subsidies to curbing deadly air pollution that each year prematurely kills millions around the world. Moreover, SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by the end of the next decade.  The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development together with Paris Agreement (both adopted in 2015) moved energy related issues at the forefront of the political agenda. The International Energy Agency, the world’s leading energy authority, has unmatched analytical capabilities based on its unique data collection, technological network, research and policy recommendation. Fifteen years ago, IEA first compiled data for electricity access and mapped out a scenario for delivering universal electricity access by 2030 in the World Energy Outlook, the IEA’s benchmark publication. In addition, the IEA has been tracking country-by-country progress on energy access on an annual basis since 2002. The IEA is also the lead agency for reporting progress towards substantially increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix and improvements in energy efficiency.  The IEA in 2017 introduced the Sustainable Development Scenario aimed to map an integrated path for achieving critical global goals in the next three decades: delivering universal energy access by 2030, an early peak in carbon emissions (SDG 13), and reducing deadly air pollution (SDG 3). To further assist the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, the IEA has decided to create a new online resource to centralize all of its data and scenario projections in support of the 2030 Agenda (http://www.iea.org/sdg/).  IEA’s reports reveal that while there has been tremendous progress in delivering universal electricity access in Asia and parts of sub-Saharan Africa, with the number of people without access declining to 1.1 billion in 2016, from 1.7 billion in 2000, on the basis of current progress, more than 670 million people are still projected to be without electricity access in 2030. As regards access to clean and modern cooking facilities, without greater ambition, 2.3 billion will still remain without clean cooking access in 2030, with grave health, environmental and social consequences. While wind and solar deployment has accelerated, thanks to falling costs and policy support in many parts of the world, goal set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is still out of reach under current policies. Although the IEA has observed improvements in energy efficiency, with falling global energy intensity, an average improvement in energy efficiency between 2000 and 2015 of 2,2% still falls short of the 2,6% target needed to achieve the SDG target.   Fatih Birol concludes that there is an urgent need for action on all fronts, especially on renewables and energy efficiency. In this context, the IEA is committed to keep leading this agenda, and stepping up efforts to support the clean energy transition.