As 30 energy environment and trade ministers plus 50 CEOs assemble in Paris for the 8th international conference on energy efficiency, the International Energy Agency is urgently calling for greater investment in energy efficiency for factories, cars and appliances to meet international climate goals.
The agency touted recent global progress: A report released Wednesday says that demand for energy is growing, yet emissions are not growing as fast. Efficiency is increasing every year as technology improves, and last year that increase was twice the average of the previous five years.
“We’re at a real juncture where more efficient, more clean, more affordable technology is starting to dominate,” said Brian Motherway, chief of energy efficiency at the IEA, during a press conference on Tuesday.
Eliminating wasted energy is the most affordable way to bring goods and services to the people who need them — while slowing greenhouse gas emissions — the main driver of global warming, energy experts say.
Government policies that encourage energy efficiency are driving the trend. Japan has strengthened laws that favour energy efficient buildings. The European Union agreed this year to reduce its total energy consumption by some 12 per cent compared to its 2020 forecast, by improving buildings, heavy industry and private transportation. The US allocated a record USD 95 billion over 10 years through the Inflation Reduction Act to increase energy efficiency in power generation, buildings and cars. And India passed important legislation to decrease the amount of energy used by homes.
“Government initiatives are critical because they get big buildings, they get big housing projects, they get industry (and) they have to take it seriously,” said Daniel Kammen, a professor of energy at the University of California, Berkeley who was not involved in the IEA report.
According to the report, total public and private investment in energy efficiency increased by 15 per cent in 2022 to USD 600 billion from the previous year.
This year, investment is expected to grow by only 4 per cent, which Motherway called concerning.
To limit global warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) and avoid severe climate disruption, the world needs to double energy efficiency for the rest of the decade. Annual investment of USD 1.8 trillion is needed to make that happen, the report says. The technology exists, we just need to prioritising spending, Philippe Delorme, executive vice president of Europe operations for Schneider Electric said in a press conference. Experts not involved in the report agreed. “Governments should be doing more, whether that relates to appliance efficiency, cars or buildings,” said Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.