Linking SDG 7 to assess the renewable energy footprint of nations by 2030

[Display omitted] •We trace renewable energy footprint on national and global scales in the SSP scenarios.•Total and per capita footprint of global nations shows high spatial heterogeneity.•Per capita GDP, population and share of renewables (SDG 7.2) and electricity (SDG 7.1) drive footprint.•Energy efficiency improvement (SDG 7.3) and decreased footprint-to-energy ratio reduce footprint.•Despite improvements SDG 7 will not be fully achieved by 2030 in all the SSP scenarios. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a guideline for humanity to respond to an array of pressing challenges. Due to our increasing need for energy supply and more stringent standards for environmental quality, having access to affordable and clean energy has been the foremost pursuit of SDG 7. Development in renewables represents a way to achieve this goal. Here, we establish a Footprint-Driver-Scenario (FDS) framework for accounting for the renewable energy footprint of 189 global economies based on a global multi-regional input − output (MRIO) model and identifying the major drivers behind based on the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) in 1990–2015, and projecting the national renewable energy footprint by 2030 based on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) scenarios. We find that total and per capita renewable energy footprint varies substantially between nations. The improvement in energy efficiency (SDG 7.3) and decline in footprint-to-energy ratio contribute to the reduction of renewable energy footprint, as opposed to the per capita GDP, population, share of renewable energy in energy mix (SDG 7.2) and proportion of population with access to electricity (SDG 7.1), all of which lead to footprint increase considerably. Despite the great progress in SDGs 7.1–7.3 by 2030, the expected goals still cannot be fully reached in any of the SSP scenarios. Our research findings can assist policy makers in better understanding the critical role of renewable energy in achieving SDG 7. The FDS framework can be potentially applied to a wide range of SDGs at the global, national and sub-national scales.