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IEA unveils global high-level commission for urgent action on energy efficiency
(IEA Newsroom, 9 Jul 2019) The International Energy Agency has established an independent high-level global commission to examine how progress on energy efficiency can be rapidly accelerated through new and stronger policy action.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar of Ireland will be the honorary chair of the IEA Commission for Urgent Action on Energy Efficiency, composed of government ministers, top business executives and thought leaders from around the world.
The members include current and former ministers for energy and environment from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Morocco, New Zealand and Spain. Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, the African Union Commissioner for Energy and Infrastructure, and Dr Wan Gang, the previous Chinese Minister of Science and Technology, who is known as the “father of electric vehicles” in China, have also agreed to take part.
Mr Richard Bruton, Ireland’s Minister of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, will chair the commission’s ongoing work. Business leaders taking part include Mr Ben van Beurden, the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell; Ms Lisa Davis, the Chief Executive of gas and power at Siemens; and Mr Gil Quiniones, the President of the New York Power Authority.
More than any single fuel, energy efficiency has a central role to play in meeting global sustainable energy goals. The IEA calculates that with the right policies, the global economy could double in size by 2040 while still maintaining broadly the same level of energy use as today. Those policies alone would enable the world to achieve more than 40% of the emissions cuts needed to reach international climate goals using cost-effective technologies already available, according to IEA analysis.
But policy implementation has slowed and efficiency progress is weakening. Global energy-related CO2 emissions increased last year at their highest rate since 2013, and air pollution continues to be linked to millions of premature deaths each year.
“It is imperative that we get global energy efficiency progress back on track,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director. “I’m delighted that Prime Minister Varadkar and other eminent figures from around the world have agreed to commit their energy and ideas to this vital project.”
IEA Newsroom, 9 Jul 2019: IEA unveils global high-level commission for urgent action on energy efficiency
