“I’m not a climatologist. I’m not a scientist. I’m not an economist …”

Much has been written about the Paris climate change agreement last December. Brady Dennis writes a good article in the Washington Post about Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s secretary-general, who played a big role in making it happen. Why outgoing U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was willing to bet big on a climate change deal Ban … Continue reading “I’m not a climatologist. I’m not a scientist. I’m not an economist …” →

Why the G20 countries need to take the lead in energy efficiency

Last year in Australia, the G20 gave considerable attention to energy efficiency when it adopted the energy efficiency action plan. Under Turkey’s chairmanship this year, energy efficiency has remained a priority in the G20. Blue & Green Tomorrow recently wrote about the leadership that we need from the G20 in energy efficiency. EiD would like … Continue reading Why the G20 countries need to take the lead in energy efficiency →

IEA publishes medium term energy efficiency market report

With less fanfare than for the launch of the IEA’s renewable energy market report, its 2015 report on energy efficiency markets was published this week. Unlike the renewable energy report, this one for energy efficiency is free as a COP21 special offer. Joshua S Hill reviews the report on the CleanTechnica website. Energy Efficiency … Continue reading IEA publishes medium term energy efficiency market report →

Reviewing the IEA’s new report on the renewable energy market

When the IEA publishes a new report, it makes news and such is true with the new report on the renewable energy market. Importantly, the IEA’s Executive Director, Fatih Birol, launched the report in Istanbul at a G20 energy ministers meeting. Joshua S Hill provides a good post on it from the CleanTechnica website. Readers … Continue reading Reviewing the IEA’s new report on the renewable energy market →

Industrial energy efficiency gets a boost in Turkey

Turkey is a major industrial economy. As anywhere, the energy transition also includes improving how energy is used throughout the entire production cycle. While there are many policies being implemented to help such improvements, it is good to see how the international financial institutions are helping. Olga Rosca writes on the EBRD website about a … Continue reading Industrial energy efficiency gets a boost in Turkey →

Significant increase in climate finance in 2014

The International Institute for Sustainable Development reports a welcome increase in multilateral funding for climate finance. Importantly, of the mitigation funding, 35% went to renewable energy, 27% to sustainable transport and 22% to energy efficiency. Multilateral Development Banks Report 19% Increase in Climate Finance Six multilateral development banks (MDBs) have launched the fourth edition … Continue reading Significant increase in climate finance in 2014 →

Latest edition of the IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reviews the 2015 edition of the IEA’s new report. IEA Flagship Report Calls for Clean Energy Innovation The latest edition of the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Energy Technology Perspectives stresses that concerted action on innovation in clean energy is the only way for the world to meet … Continue reading Latest edition of the IEA’s Energy Technology Perspectives →

New report by UNEP identifies innovations for scaling up sustainable development financing

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a report, titled 'Pathways to Scale,' which identifies "critical innovations in the US$300+ trillion global financial system that can help bring together the historically separate agendas of financial reform and sustainable development." Drawing on country-level examples of financial market and institutional reforms, the report proposes a number of … Continue reading New report by UNEP identifies innovations for scaling up sustainable development financing →

IEA review of EU energy policies

The International Energy Agency has recently published its review of EU’s energy policies as part of its country review series. This follows the first review of EU policies it undertook in 2008. The review states that at the time of the first review, “the European Union had embarked on two major reforms in energy and … Continue reading IEA review of EU energy policies →

The importance of improved energy efficiency to meet climate objectives

Mat Hope writes on the Carbon Brief website about the latest Emissions Gap report of the United Nations Environment Programme and the growing awareness that improved energy efficiency must play a more important role. Alas, it is unfortunate that the European Council did not understand this when it downplayed the role improved energy efficiency would … Continue reading The importance of improved energy efficiency to meet climate objectives →