IEA hosts third energy efficiency training week for emerging economies

The International Energy Agency kicked off its third Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies Training Week (EETW) on Monday, bringing together more than 130 public policy-makers and local experts from over 45 emerging and developing countries.

The week-long programme highlights the critical role that energy efficiency plays in addressing increased energy demand in emerging economies, and underpins the importance for the topic for the IEA, which has created a global hub for energy efficiency.

Over the next five days, participants will take part in a variety of in-depth seminars on policy, regulations and standards in all energy end-use sectors, from buildings to lighting and appliances, industry and transportation.

Participants heard from a variety of high-level experts from the IEA, the European Commission, the United Nations, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Hiroshi Oe, Japan's Ambassador to the OECD, spoke about his country's experience with energy efficiency policies, and Alessandro Busacca, Italy's Ambassador to the OECD, talked about Italy's committment to energy efficiency and energy development in Africa. Christopher Sharrock, the United Kingdom's Ambassador to the OECD, also spoke of progress made in the U.K. Dr Mohan Kumar, Ambassador of India to France, and Tilak Ranaviraja, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to France, were also present.

The focus on energy efficiency is an important part of the IEA’s policy to expand its ties with emerging economies and a critical pillar of its modernization policy announced in 2015. This includes opening the doors to emerging economies, such as China, India, Indonesia and others, and becoming a global hub for clean energy technologies and energy efficiency.

“The breadth of representation in this room highlights our commitment to opening our doors to emerging economies,” said Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director, during his opening remarks.

The event was attended by participants from China, India, Nigeria and other countries. (Photograph: IEA)

The IEA will host three more training weeks this year, in Singapore, Georgia and Rio de Janeiro, providing energy efficiency training to more than 500 people from about 70 countries in 2017. This growing training network also contributes to creating a global community which the IEA is supporting by launching a new online platform to facilitate ongoing connections with participants.

The projected energy demand from emerging economies means that learning from the experiences of other countries and transferring knowledge on effective energy efficiency policies is critical to achieving a sustainable energy transition. The share of global energy use that is covered by mandatory efficiency standards on vehicles, appliances, industry and buildings has been growing. It was about 30% in 2015, up from 10% in 2000.

The IEA training week is a key activity of the Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies (E4) Programme, which has been supporting emerging economies in their efforts to scale up and capture the benefits of energy efficiency since the beginning of 2014. It plays an important role in sharing experiences, policies and best-practices on effective energy-efficiency through the IEA’s well-established expertise on data collection, indicators and modelling; energy-efficiency policy design, implementation and evaluation; and training and capacity building.

The EETW is one of a series of new programmes and activities undertaken by the IEA to strengthen its work on energy efficiency. The IEA created an Energy Efficiency Division in 2015 and last year held its first global high-level conference on energy efficiency, attended by over 200 participants from over 40 countries. The IEA also launched the Energy Efficiency Industry Advisory Board. It will release its next annual Energy Efficiency Market Report in September.

His Excellency, Dr Mohan Kumar, Ambassador of India to France, (center) with participants from India. (Photograph: IEA)