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| Paris alignment | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| Some progress | Increasing access to modern energy services is a core policy pillar of the IsDB’s Energy Sector Policy. There is clear evidence of this strategic-level prioritisation being operationalised, such as through the Bank hosting the Middle East hub of the SEforAll Initiative, and contributing to the Mission 300 initiative. However, the Bank has not explicitly adopted a well-defined, consistent minimum definition (or framework) for energy access across its operations and lacks specific (portfolio) targets to orient its interventions. Moreover, there is no evidence of public monitoring and reporting to track the Bank’s contribution to energy access progress. |
| Alignment and reasoning | |
| Energy Access Target | The Energy Sector Policy frames the Bank’s support for energy access in line with SDG 7 (universal access to affordable and reliable modern energy services by 2030). However, there is no explicit target or commitment relating to the IsDB’s contribution to this goal, or any other energy access target. |
| Minimum Definition of Access | Despite indications of a multi-faceted understanding of energy access, the IsDB does not appear to have adopted or established a minimum working definition (or framework) to be applied across the Bank’s activities. |
| % of Energy Financing Dedicated to Energy Access | According to OCI data, since peaking at 55.3% of total energy lending in 2018, in the period 2019–2022 between 15 and 20% was dedicated annually towards energy access (excluding 2020). |
| Is Progress Monitored | There is no public monitoring and reporting of energy access progress (or financing). |
| Progress against Metrics | Due to the absence of public monitoring and reporting indicators, it is not possible to gauge the IsDB’s contribution to progress on energy access across its member countries. |
Energy access target and minimum definition of access
IsDB’s Energy Sector Policy (ESP) recognises the energy scarcity facing certain member countries (MCs), with those in sub-Saharan Africa having some of the lowest energy access rates in the world. In line with this, increasing access to modern energy services is one of the four core policy pillars of the ESP. With explicit reference to the SDG7.goal of universal and affordable access to sustainable modern energy by 2030, the ESP suggests the Bank will “consider scaling up its support for energy access” through:
- Systematically adding an access component to conventional power projects.
- Developing new business models to provide access to energy through distributed generation, decentralised grids or consumer-based solutions.
- Gradually promoting modern forms of energy service for basic needs such as lighting, cooking, and heating.
While the ESP does not provide granular detail on how each of these components will be operationalised, the Bank anticipates that relevant interventions will cover the development of new grid infrastructure, rehabilitation or extension of existing grids, and improvements in power utilities’ operational efficiency and financial performance. Under the access policy pillar the ESP also specifically states that the IsDB will consider the “provision of energy forms such as oil and gas and of the relevant downstream infrastructures, based on the principles of safety, operational efficiency and sustainability”. No further details are provided regarding the implications and/or requirements involved with applying each of these principles in practice.
While the ESP clearly indicates a multi-faceted understanding of energy access by the Bank, there is no evidence of an explicit working minimum definition (or framework) for how access is assessed or qualified.[1] As a technical and key term, “energy access” is notably absent from the dedicated “definitions” section of the ESP.
Furthermore, despite framing its prioritisation of energy access within the context of the UN SDG7 goal, the ESP does not establish a clear commitment with regards to the IsDB’s contribution to this goal, or any time-bound indicators for monitoring and reporting progress on energy access.
Energy access progress
The IsDB hosts the Middle East hub of the SEforAll Initiative, which serves as a platform for collaboration on sustainable energy development. This includes facilitating information sharing, raising awareness, mobilising partnerships, and driving concrete actions at the country level to address energy-related sustainable development challenges. In 2025 the IsDB notably also pledged USD 4.65 billion to support the Mission 300 initiative alongside development partners (led by peer MDBs the World Bank Group and African Development Bank).
The IsDB does not publicly undertake any monitoring or reporting of energy access financing or progress. Nonetheless, analysis of energy lending data recorded as part of Oil Change International’s Public Finance for Energy Database can provide some insight into the proportion of total annual energy lending dedicated towards access.
The proportion of total energy finance allocated to energy access has fluctuated significantly in the period 2017–2022. A relatively small share (0.6%, amounting to USD 31 million) of energy lending was recorded as dedicated towards access in 2017. This subsequently increased significantly, peaking in 2018 with 55.3% (USD 469 million) of total energy finance dedicated to access. Following this, the proportion of total annual energy lending dedicated towards access hovered between 15–20% for the remaining years of the sample (with the exception of 2020, where none was recorded, likely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic response).[2]
Recommendations:
- The IsDB should adopt a clear working definition of energy access as a fundamental component of an effective associated monitoring and reporting framework. In doing so, the Bank should refer to industry best practice for capturing the multi-faceted nature of access, such as the Multi-tier Framework (MTF).
- Having adopted a working definition (or framework) for energy access, the IsDB should consider setting an explicit, quantifiable, time-bound target for the Bank’s contribution to universal energy access. In doing so the IsDB could similarly refer to leading practice among peer institutions, such as by the AfDB, which has committed to an overarching goal of universal energy access across Africa by 2025, and adopted specific quantifiable access targets to achieve this.
- The IsDB should develop dedicated monitoring and reporting indicators for energy access to support the achievement of portfolio-level energy access targets, provide a feedback loop for the Bank’s strategic approach, and provide greater transparency with regards to its contribution in this area. This could involve breaking down data to:
- Direct vs. Inferred Access: providing disaggregated estimates for the number of people directly supplied with electricity access, and those likely to have benefited indirectly from investments increasing the availability of electricity in the grid.
- Quality of Access: providing a detailed breakdown of access levels, focusing on critical attributes such as affordability, reliability, availability, and sustainability (as detailed by the MTF).
- New vs. Improved Service: differentiating between people receiving new electricity connections and those benefiting from improved services, highlighting the specific improvements (e.g., higher reliability or increased availability).
[1] Such as the Multi-Tier Framework developed by SEforAll and the World Bank Group.
[2] The specific annual figures are: 2019 (19.1% or USD 167 million), 2021 (16.5% or USD 202 million) and 2022 (15.0% or USD 116 million).
Last Update: July 2025