The Brief – Another lost year for energy efficiency

At COP28, international leaders once again fell short of embracing energy efficiency targets, representing perhaps the biggest missed opportunity of the decade.

Meet energy efficiency, the magical millions of hard-to-grasp levers that allow us to do more while consuming less energy. It is the result of incremental progress. But too often, it falls by the wayside – despite politicians’ best intentions. 

“The world’s cheapest energy is the energy that is not used, as we all know, and therefore we set the goal to double energy efficiency by 2030,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen explained on her trip to the summit in early December. 

She had wonks hopeful. Going into COP28, Europe had a set of goals: tripling global renewables, getting a commitment to phasing out fossil fuels, and doubling global energy efficiency improvements.

The impact of the latter would be humungous. Going all the way to 4% instead of 2% energy efficiency improvements per year would make global climate action child’s play and keep 1.5 °C comfortably within reach.  

The result – cutting energy use while maintaining economic growth – would deliver 50% of the global climate action needed by 2030, a bigger share than if renewables were tripled.

Energy efficiency is measured in production output compared to energy input – and the world has started getting it right in recent years despite pushbacks.

Remember the outrage in Europe when Brussels banned pesky lightbulbs, mandating more efficient forms of lighting instead? Energy efficient policy in its purest form, making Europe an efficiency champion. Underestimated policies like this slashed global CO2 emissions by 12% by 2017, the International Energy Agency estimates. 

Driven by the energy crisis, several longer-term energy-saving policies are slotting into place in the coming years. Countries around the world have proven that they can hit the 4% in the past. Now, they need to do it consistently.

This is possible. A mere 26% of distribution transformers and 33% of cooking appliances are subject to minimum performance standards, compared to some 90% of fridges and A/Cs. Once in place, those standards can be tightened in coming years.

That is the future for our world where energy-efficient appliances, electric cars, renovated houses and awareness of the energy we use vastly cut down on our energy consumption – saving trillions and the climate in the process.

Reality is less flowery, with 2023 being a mixed year for European energy efficiency advocates: while the EU’s energy efficiency law is ambitious, global energy efficiency improvements stalled at 1.3%, and the bloc’s buildings renovation directive was utterly eviscerated. 

Getting a solid commitment to doubling energy efficiency improvements into the final text of COP28 – one of the IEA’s five pillars of success – would have been a nice nightcap for such a busy year.

Alas, this appears unlikely. Climate negotiations in Dubai look bleak at the time of writing, and one thing is rather straightforward: energy efficiency fell off the wagon along the way.

Nothing illustrated this as well as a series of 43 posts by one energy efficiency expert on X, formerly Twitter. What started bubbly, with the draft text “calling upon” parties to “double energy efficiency” amid boisterous statements from world leaders, quickly turned into a massive hangover when they left.

At the time of writing, energy efficiency has been reduced to one item of a “lukewarm menu” of options on the table instead of stern commitment. 

As soon as energy efficiency gets out of line of sight, it is lost amid the hubbub.

How come? Kim Fausing, the CEO of the Danish multinational and energy efficiency equipment producer Danfoss, who should know well, says that individual actions seem too marginal to be considered.

“The real challenge is that efficiency is about a lot of little changes that add up to a major impact,” Forbes quoted him as saying once. Incrementalism drowned in the calls for extreme measures.

No “major impact” to be gained from energy efficiency this time around at COP. Such is the case every year, sadly. See you in 2024.

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The Roundup

The European Parliament adopted with a broad majority the initiative to make digital platforms less addictive at its plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

To provide an overview of the state of play in implementing the updated Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) across Europe, Euractiv interviewed Nicolas Sonder and Mailin von Knobelsdorff, PwC experts on cybersecurity.

Most EU agriculture ministers have voiced their resolve to continue work on the EU’s contentious pesticide regulation, despite the European Parliament voting against the file and further negotiations on it.

France will give the green light to new investments in nuclear fusion, natural hydrogen, energy storage and carbon capture, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday.

Members of the European Parliament voted on Tuesday in favour of an own-initiative report calling for more direct funding to tackle the rising mental health issues in Europe and identification of high-risk populations.

Germany is considering an export ban on Ozempic, an antidiabetic medicine that has been flying off the shelves in pharmacies not only for its effectiveness in managing glucose levels of people living with Type 2 Diabetes but also for its weight-loss properties.

Can a full or partial nationalisation of the health services be a cure for Sweden’s health care crisis? A Swedish parliamentary investigative committee is now trying to find an answer.

Last but not least, don’t miss this week’s Transport Brief: At COP28, is Europe’s guiding light actually blinding?

Look out for…

• Last European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg Monday-Thursday.
• EU-Western Balkans Summit on Wednesday.

Views are the author’s

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald/Alice Taylor]