UNDP's approach to development places at the center the priority of accelerating a global just energy transition and ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy. This vision intends to distribute the benefits of the transition equitably across people and society while minimizing potential negative impacts on the most vulnerable communities. The UNDP Sustainable Energy Hub (SEH) is a network of partners that work alongside countries to transform energy systems through an integrated agenda of policy, technology, and financial shifts that shape sustainable economic development.

In parallel with UNDP's Offer on sustainable energy is the UNDP SIDS Offer, Rising Up for SIDS, which articulates a clear strategy to support SIDS in addressing their most pressing needs and scaling innovative solutions to the complex and interconnected developmental challenges. The SIDS Offer acts as a vehicle for recovery to enhance support in climate action, blue economy, and digital transformation, with innovative development finance as an enabling cross-cutting area.

This policy paper, aligned with the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS, intends to identify key actionable opportunities for sustainable energy within the next decade of development in SIDS as a key lever for providing equitable economic opportunities and resilience for integrated human development. This paper was developed in close cooperation with The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and was officially launched at COP29 in Baku in November 2024.