AGENDA

Energy efficiency is widely viewed as one of the most effective ways to achieve multiple economic, social and environmental benefits and therefore making significant progress towards implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. Investments in energy efficiency are increasing globally and have reached over USD 231 billion in 2016, constituting 12 percent of total energy investments. However, they are not happening on the scale necessary to achieve a breakthrough in energy efficiency improvement. The fact remains that much of the potential for energy efficiency improvement remains untapped, and many opportunities for win-win energy efficiency projects are being lost. The joint UNECE/Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency publication Overcoming Barriers to Investing in Energy Efficiency looks into barriers to investing in energy efficiency and ways to overcome them. The publication brings to light valuable insights on the challenges and solutions for overcoming barriers to energy efficiency investments provided by practitioners working in the field. The session will look in more detail into investment decisions in the industry sector, in particular what helps viable projects to be identified and implemented and what stimulates companies to make decisions to finance and implement energy efficiency measures and projects. The panelists and participants of this session are invited to share their experience in improving the investment climate for energy efficiency and in providing policy solutions and incentive schemes to make energy efficiency projects viable. They are invited to share their views on the role of private sector and financial institutions in implementing energy efficiency measures and projects and what governments can do to facilitate this. The participants will be asked to consider the following questions: • What specific barriers does your country/company face to improving energy efficiency and what are you doing to overcome them? • What approaches have been effective in accelerating investments in energy efficiency? • What conditions are needed for companies to consider investing into energy efficiency measures an obvious choice? • Low awareness about the multiple benefits of energy efficiency projects is viewed as one of the main barriers to increasing investment and financing flows to energy efficiency projects. What are the best ways to overcome this obstacle?

This Intensive Learning Session, hosted by the World Resources Institute and the Alliance to Save Energy, will focus on how the building efficiency community can undertake a more concerted effort to create the political space for international, national and local leaders to champion building efficiency as a way to meet their own goals while also contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. We need to spur a building efficiency movement. This will require high-level global platforms, national engagement, political linkages, and collaboration across building efficiency platforms. The past few years have seen a growing focus on subnational governments to move the needle on building efficiency. As a result, many global platforms and partnerships are seeking to elevate and promote the successes of subnational action through international partnerships. While the international focus has traditionally been on megacities, many initiatives are increasingly looking to small- or medium-sized cities —whose accomplishments otherwise go largely unknown by the global community—to pilot innovative programs and demonstrate the effectiveness of energy efficiency for meeting energy, development, and climate goals. Despite the efforts of these global platforms and partnerships, however, the lack of a high-profile global political dialogue on building efficiency has limited the engagement of both cities and national governments in prioritizing building efficiency as a key solution to energy and climate challenges. The topic of building efficiency has not resonated sufficiently to galvanize the needed political backing at the national or international level; local governments therefore must often choose whether to prioritize building efficiency actions from among other programs that may have stronger national backing. This situation is ripe for change: There is significant potential to leverage the momentum of international building efficiency efforts and to stimulate the needed political support for building efficiency efforts. Building efficiency is one of the most effective near-term opportunities for achieving national climate and energy goals, and there are important opportunities to connect with the political agendas of national governments working to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). This session will focus on how the building efficiency community can undertake a more concerted effort to create the political space for national and local leaders to champion building efficiency as a near-term, long-lasting solution that can help countries meet their NDCs while also contributing to many of the Sustainable Development Goals that are critical to green growth. This ILS is invite-only, please contact Eric Mackres at emackres@wri.org for more information.

CLASP, the Copenhagen Center for Energy Efficiency, and our partners are drafting the third edition of the S&L Guidebook (GB3) to capture global advances in best practice, technology, and policy development. A flagship CLASP publication, GB3 will deliver in-depth, step-by-step instructions for developing, implementing, and maintaining energy efficiency labeling and energy performance standards for appliances, lighting, and equipment – often called S&L. We are launching: <ul> <li><strong>Peer review</strong> process for four core chapters: testing, standards, labelling, and compliance. We seek diverse feedback from policymakers, members of industry, and experts in energy and resource efficiency for appliances, equipment, systems, and buildings, where appropriate.</li> <li><strong>GB3 Microsite</strong> will serve as a fun and sophisticated resource to the field. It will be our hub for the peer review process, and eventually house all guidebook chapters, case studies, and other resources, as well as archived editions of the Guidebook.</li> </ul> Energy performance improvements in consumer, commercial, and industrial appliances and end-uses are an essential element in any government's portfolio of energy-saving and climate change mitigation programs, and deserve to be among the first policy tools considered by energy policymakers. Balanced programs, both voluntary and regulatory, remove cost-ineffective, energy-wasting products from the marketplace and stimulate the development and disbursement of cost-effective, energy-efficient technology.

Widely recognized standards such as <em>ISO 50001 Energy Management Systems </em>and the <em>International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP)</em> have been developed to facilitate energy performance improvement by: <ul> <li>identifying and understanding drivers and variables affecting energy use and consumption,</li> <li>defining appropriate indicators that reliably allow measurement of energy performance,</li> <li>monitoring progress toward targets and objectives, and</li> <li>facilitating optimal operations control and identification of energy savings and performance improvement opportunities.</li> </ul> However, studies and fieldwork by UNIDO and EVO indicate that the effectiveness and pace of implementation of these standards has been hampered by several factors: <ul> <li>Experience with implementing energy management systems (EnMS) in line with ISO 50001 has shown that Energy Performance Measurement (EnPM) and Energy Performance Indicators (EnPI) are poorly understood by industrial enterprises, as well as by a significant share of energy efficiency practitioners and service providers.</li> <li>Verifying energy savings is a key barrier for investors and facility owners to be willing to fund and implement energy efficiency projects on a large scale. There is a significant gap in the market caused by the lack of consistent application of generally accepted M&V practices.</li> <li>The majority of enterprises and a significant number of EE consultants/service providers make use of energy performance indicators that are either incorrect or improperly used, leading to a partial or incorrect picture of actual energy performance. Combined with the limited competencies of EE consultants and service providers, this represents a major barrier to and serious risk for proper and effective implementation of EnMS/ISO 50001 and its broad market dissemination.</li> </ul> Jointly organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Efficiency Valuation Organization, this ILS will have two parts. During the first part, panelists will discuss best practices in energy performance measurement and indicators, in the context of EnMS-ISO-50001 implementation. They will emphasize the role of common references and guidance documents (e.g., IPMVP) in energy performance measurement and verification. Speakers will demonstrate how the implementation of ISO 50001 standards can be facilitated with the IPMVP framework. The second part will focus on the availability of better quality data on industrial energy, and the need for data due diligence and independent performance assessment. Panelists will report on real-life examples of energy and non-energy benefits achieved by companies as result of greater data due diligence and analysis of best practices. They will also discuss the importance of capacity building and the need for independent performance verification by individuals as well as by neutral third-party organizations.

During the last few decades, China has regarded energy efficiency enhancement as a significant means to ensure energy security, combat climate change, promote the transition to green and sustainable growth, and bolster the economy. Due to strong policies and market demands, China has made great achievements in energy efficiency and energy conservation. From 2005 to 2015, China's energy consumption per unit of GDP dropped by 34%, preventing the consumption of 1.57 billion tons of standard coal, which is equivalent to a reduction of 3.58 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions. According to the World Bank, China has accounted for more than half of the total energy saving in the world in the past two decades. Not surprisingly, China’s energy service market has developed into the biggest one in the world. There are about 6000 energy service companies (ESCOs) with 652000 employees providing energy conservation renovation and comprehensive energy services in various sectors, including buildings, industry, transportation and infrastructure. As of 2017, the China ESCO industry total value was 414.8 billion China Yuan (about $66 billion). China values international cooperation on energy efficiency because exchange and collaboration bring win-win results. Considering China’s 2020 goal of decreasing energy consumption per GDP by 15% (compared with a 2015 baseline), the potential for international cooperation continues to be important. Hosted by the ESCO Committee of China Energy Conservation Association, this ILS workshop will bring the key stakeholders from central government think tanks, NGO organizations, universities, companies, and international organizations together to discuss and explore such collaboration opportunities and to share insights that make cooperation happen.

The global real estate sector holds around 50% of stored wealth, uses around 40% of global energy and holds much of the untapped energy efficiency potential. Therefore, the efficiency and resilience of the global building stock is key to the realization of the clean energy transition, and to stimulate global sustainable growth. Zero emissions, efficient and resilient buildings are key to the realisation of the objectives of the Paris Agreement. At this intensive learning session and high-level roundtable, the G20 Energy Efficiency Finance Task Group (G20 EEFTG), the International Partnership on Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC) and UN Environment – Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GABC) will conduct a structured dialogue to assess how financial institutions can work together with policy-makers to bring the global real estate to zero emissions and therefore maximise its contribution to Paris agreement objectives, global sustainable growth and the creation of shared prosperity.

Jointly hosted by Danida and the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, this seminar will examine the development priorities of the Danish Government as they relate to energy efficiency, and point to some examples of its work in the field. Through its Development Strategy, ‘The World 2030’, Denmark has set out a range of activities that it will prioritise in the coming years to support developing countries toward achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and in achieving sustainable energy for all. The seminar will provide an opportunity to learn more about these priorities and planned activities of Danish agencies, as well as about the collaborative work underway to bring Danish private sector and research expertise to the effort