The Vienna Energy Forum Special Session will take place from 14-16 May 2018 at the Vienna International Center in Vienna, Austria. Organized under the auspices of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Forum will gather leaders from governments, civil society, international organizations and the private sector, in an aim to push the energy-development agenda forward.

The special session will pivot around Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. Participants will:

• debate key issues and opportunities surrounding sustainable energy for development;
• reflect on how to strengthen and advance SDG 7 and its nexus with other development goals; and
• provide action-oriented objectives across sectors.

The special session aims to contribute to the review of SDG 7 at the High Level Political Forum in New York in July 2018, and more broadly, to uphold the latter’s pursuit of a Transformation toward Sustainable and Resilient Societies.

The high-level segment of the Forum, taking place on 14 May, will include sessions on:

• energy system transformation;
• clean energy technology and innovation;
• partnerships for technology cooperation;
• capacity of energy systems to catalyze industrial transformation;
• participation of developing economics in climate and clean energy technology; and
• regional energy cooperation.