The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development-including 17 interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 Targets-is a global plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. SDG7 calls for action to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Here we characterise synergies and trade-offs between efforts to achieve SDG7, and delivery of the 2030 Agenda as a whole. We identify 113 Targets requiring actions to change energy systems, and published evidence of relationships between 143 Targets and efforts to achieve SDG7. Synergies and trade-offs exist in three key domains, where decisions about SDG7 affect humanity's ability to: (1) realise aspirations of greater welfare and wellbeing; (2) build physical and social infrastructures for sustainable development; and (3) achieve sustainable management of the natural environment. There is an urgent need to better organise, connect and extend this evidence, to help all actors work together to achieve sustainable development.

Major transformation of the global energy system is required for climate change mitigation. However, energy demand patterns and supply systems are themselves subject to climate change impacts. These impacts will variously help and hinder mitigation and adaptation efforts, so it is vital they are well understood and incorporated into models used to study energy system decarbonisation pathways. To assess the current state of understanding of this topic and identify research priorities, this paper critically reviews the literature on the impacts of climate change on the energy supply system, summarising the regional coverage of studies, trends in their results and sources of disagreement. We then examine the ways in which these impacts have been represented in integrated assessment models of the electricity or energy system. Studies tend to agree broadly on impacts for wind, solar and thermal power stations. Projections for impacts on hydropower and bioenergy resources are more varied. Key uncertainties and gaps remain due to the variation between climate projections, modelling limitations and the regional bias of research interests. Priorities for future research include the following: further regional impact studies for developing countries; studies examining impacts of the changing variability of renewable resources, extreme weather events and combined hazards; inclusion of multiple climate feedback mechanisms in IAMs, accounting for adaptation options and climate model uncertainty. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10584-018-2265-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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