International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation is Launched

June 11, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

"Given our collective dimension in both economic and demographic terms, representing over 65% of the global energy consumption and global CO2 emissions, G8 countries and the European Union, together with China, India and South Korea, are in a privileged position to influence world energy trends, hence the importance of the agreement that has been reached for the establishment of the IPEEC," said Andris Piebalgs, EC energy commissioner.

In the current context of high oil prices, the EC holds that energy efficiency is the most immediate and cost-effective way to achieve the goals of sustainability and security of energy supply, as well as competitiveness.

The EC also maintains that national energy efficiency improvements can be enhanced through international cooperation, by the sharing of best practices and policies, and by promoting global partnership.

To this end, IPEEC will be a high-level, open, broad and inclusive partnership of nations seeking to maximize the benefits of energy efficiency through voluntary cooperation. It will be open to the participation of any major economy wishing to join.

IPEEC will offer to the G8 and other interested countries a flexible forum for high-level policy discussion, regular strategic cooperation and exchanges focused exclusively on energy efficiency.

IPEEC will support the ongoing work of participating countries and relevant organizations to promote energy efficiency. It will be a supplementary and complementary instrument to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process.

The European Union (EU) has announced an initial contribution of €400,000 to set up IPEEC's implementing structure. Other partners, such as Japan and the U.S., are making similar commitments.

Objectives
IPEEC will add value to existing structures and agreements that tackle energy efficiency, its purpose being to facilitate those actions that yield high energy efficiency gains and improvements where the participating countries see an added value for themselves and therefore choose to take action in the areas of their interest on a voluntary basis.

The goals of IPEEC are to:

• Secure a clearer picture of international action on energy efficiency.
• Enable the development of a shared and strategic view covering these activities.
• Identify possible collaboration actions and maximize the impact and synergies of individual national actions.

Structure
Highlights of IPEEC's modular structure include the following:

• High-level energy officials will meet once a year, at the level of vice minister and/or director general.
• All participants will prepare their voluntary energy efficiency action plan, based on their national circumstances and building on existing work - no duplication with existing action plans is foreseen.
• Each country will choose the area of activity according to its own interests and possibilities.
• Experts from designated institutions will participate in concrete activities and projects.

IPEEC will draw on the expertise and work undertaken by international organizations and financial institutions, research organizations, the private sector and public–private partnerships.

An initial work program includes some concrete areas for voluntary cooperation, such as:

• Inventoring existing national and multilateral efforts on energy efficiency improvements.
• Sharing best practices on program development, public procurement, industrial plant audits, training and public awareness efforts.
• Identifying areas of joint actions to facilitate energy efficiency improvement, including joint work for a global transition to energy-efficient lighting technologies.

Background
The idea of an international initiative on energy efficiency came originally from the EC and was one of the actions foreseen in the EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan of October 2006.

At the Heiligendamm Summit in June 2007, the G8 acknowledged the EU proposal and asked the Gleneagles Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development and the International Energy Agency to explore the most effective means to promote energy efficiency internationally.

One year later, energy leaders of the G8 countries, China, India, South Korea and the European Community established the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation, the initiative they have developed together, and call on other major economies to join them in this new international activity.

Source: European Commission.