IEA: Energy Efficiency Hub launched to boost cooperation on world’s ‘first fuel’

The Energy Efficiency Hub – a global platform for collaboration aimed at delivering the social, economic and environmental benefits of more efficient use of energy – was launched on 1 December at an event hosted at the International Energy Agency in Paris.

The Hub’s initial 16 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, the European Commission, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Hub aims to facilitate government-to-government exchanges on efficiency policy, regulation and implementation, focusing on topics relevant to real-world challenges faced by its members. The launch event showcased digitalisation, efficient equipment and appliance deployment, best energy efficiency technologies, and energy management best practices as areas of collaboration.

“Hub Members span the globe, from East to West and from North to South, together accounting for over 60% of energy use and carbon dioxide emissions,” said Ulrich Benterbusch, Deputy Director General of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, who will serve as Chair of the Hub’s Steering Committee.

“In fact, each Member has significant accomplishments in energy efficiency and understands how urgent it is to work together on it,” he added. “Meeting global challenges requires all countries to do better, and – working in concert with other international organisations – the Hub will strive to share its work more broadly and to learn from others.”

The Hub’s launch follows the previous week’s release of Energy Efficiency 2021, the IEA’s annual market report on the subject, which showed that while global energy efficiency improvements are recovering to their pre-pandemic pace, they are still far short of what is needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

“I consider energy efficiency to be the very ‘first fuel’ because it is crucial to address climate change and make our energy supplies more secure while also leaving money in our pockets,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA Executive Director. “I am very pleased to see countries coming together as part of the Energy Efficiency Hub to accelerate efforts in this critical area.”

“Being based at the IEA will enable the Hub to cooperate effectively with IEA experts and the other key initiatives and activities we host, including the Clean Energy Ministerial,” said Dr Birol. “The launch of the Hub is a clear and encouraging signal that momentum is building behind greater energy efficiency action worldwide.”

Brian Motherway, Head of Energy Efficiency at the IEA, said: “Governments need to work much harder if they are to deliver the full potential of energy efficiency and get their energy systems onto a pathway towards net zero. The Hub is an important instrument for countries to learn from each other and work together to strengthen their efficiency policies.”