In 2015, the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world. Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all is one these ambitious goals.
With its collection of good practices on energy efficiency policies and insights from financial institutions to scale up investment in energy efficiency, the G20 Energy Efficiency Investment Toolkit launched on 2 May 2017, helps pave the way to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency and in doing so allows citizens to benefit from the multiple benefits of energy efficiency improvements.
Citizens, governments, financial institutions and companies can improve their energy efficiency by adopting a broad range of measures such as upgrading homes and commercial properties to use less energy and installing state of the art equipment in industrial facilities. By doing so, they will benefit from lower energy bills, reduced air pollution and increased energy security.
Each year, more than USD 221 billion is invested in energy efficiency. However, more is needed to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
The G20 economies alone consume 80% of primary energy and are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, the recommendations for implementing energy efficiency measures go beyond the G20 countries. This toolkit provides guidance and inspiration to countries and financial institutions and contributes to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Financial institutions play an instrumental role in advancing the energy efficiency agenda as they provide energy efficiency incentives to citizens and companies. The toolkit provides a voluntary framework and tools for G20 and other countries to enhance capital flows for energy efficiency investments. It provides insights into:
- Banking best practices - 122 banks have declared their intent to take steps towards integrating energy efficiency in their mainstream financing by implementing energy efficiency policies and tracking their assets energy performance.
- Investor actions and initiatives - showcasing the impact investors with a combined assets of USD 4 trillion can have on energy efficiency
- Insurance products and services - that can boost investment in energy efficiency and minimize energy-efficiency investment risks.
The cleanest energy is the one not used in the first place. Energy efficiency improvements are a cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If done at scale, they can reduce the energy bill of countries and increase energy security, while freeing up resources for further investment for sustainable development.
Over the last three years, UN Environment Finance Initiative under the leadership of France and Mexico and working together with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States has contributed to this international collaboration. The outcome of this collaboration is a set of policy frameworks, best practices and financing tools to scale up the utilization of energy efficiency measures.
Download the G20 Energy Efficiency Investment Toolkit.
Twitter: #G20EEIToolkit
