“Long-term climate strategy need fast track mechanism for efficiency”

(eceee news, 30 Nov 2018) The recent European Commission long-term climate strategy assesses pathways to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. While the strategy places energy savings at the forefront of the transition of the energy system, efficiency investments across the economy must be ramped up now – not after 2030 – according to the Coalition for Energy Savings.

In the Commission’s analysis of pathways compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C, additional energy efficiency improvements play a central role, though only after 2030. This overlooks that energy efficiency investments must be ramped up immediately to tap the cost-effective energy efficiency potential across sectors, which stands at 40%, well above the current 2030 target of 32.5%.

“We welcome the Commission’s recognition of the important role of energy savings in achieving the transition towards a climate-neutral energy system”, said Stefan Scheuer, Secretary General of the Coalition for Energy Savings. “What we need is a transparent and integrated assessment of the energy efficiency improvement potentials across the whole energy system with an open mind about policy solutions. It will show how benefits for citizens, businesses and governments can be delivered immediately on the ground.”

eceee is a member of the Coalition. Nils Borg, eceee’s Executive Director said: “The IEA has shown that we we must double the rate of efficiency improvements globally in order to meet our climate commitments. Contrary to what many think, Europe is not the best in class and we need to ramp up the efforts now”.

With the new Energy Union Governance Regulation and the Energy Efficiency Directive, the EU and Member States have made the commitment and have the tools to consider energy efficiency first in all energy planning and to fast-track energy efficiency policies and investments in the 2019 National Energy and Climate Plans.

European Commission strategy can be downloaded here

The Coalition response to the public consultation on the EU long-term strategy can be found here, and the Coalition’s call for a fast track mechanism can be found here.