Progress on energy efficiency must double to meet global climate goals

Global annual improvement of 4% would put us on track to reach net zero by 2050.

Photo: Eric Bautista of EB Project Management.

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) finds that global progress on energy efficiency needs to double to put the world on track to meet midcentury net zero emissions goals. The rate of energy efficiency progress will need to increase to at least 4% global annual improvement, according to the report. Meeting this target would reduce energy bills by one-third, create 4.5 million jobs and avoid more than 7 billion metric tons of carbon emissions—which the IEA says would put us on track to reach net zero by 2050.

Doubling progress is necessary and achievable

According to the IEA report, 90% of countries have achieved a 4% improvement on energy efficiency at least once in the last decade. In fact, the U.S. hit 4% annual improvement in 2023. However, very few countries have been able to maintain that rate over a multiyear period. This year, the global average rate dropped to 1.3%, reflecting mixed progress across countries and countervailing factors like extreme heat and more energy-intensive lifestyles.

Reaching the 4% annual target will require accelerating investment in and deployment of energy efficiency improvements. The IEA estimates global annual investment would need to triple from current levels to more than $1.5 trillion per year through 2030 to meet the target.

The IEA report identifies key global action areas to increase energy efficiency, including:

1. Improving technical efficiency such as better building construction and energy-efficient retrofits, as well as improved appliance efficiency.
2. Electrifying end uses such as heat pumps in buildings.
3. Improving behavioral efficiency such as changing thermostat set points to reduce operational energy demand.

Call to action at COP 28

Scaling up energy efficiency globally will require bold international commitments and collaboration across public and private sectors. As world leaders and stakeholders convene for COP 28, USGBC has joined partners from government, finance, business and civil society to support the Mission Efficiency call to action urging countries to commit to more than doubling progress in energy efficiency and tripling investment through 2030, in line with the IEA report findings. Also at COP 28, the U.S. joined the Buildings Breakthrough partnership launched Wednesday, committing to the vision that resilient buildings with near zero emissions will be the “new normal” by 2030.

The call to double the global average annual rate of energy-efficiency improvements has been echoed in the COP 28 Global Renewables and Energy Efficiency Pledge signed by over 120 countries so far, including the U.S. This comes after 46 governments endorsed a similar pledge at the IEA’s eighth annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in June of this year.

USGBC has a COP 28 delegation on-site in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is supporting the Mission Efficiency campaign to include a commitment to doubling efficiency progress and tripling investment in the COP 28 decision. Join USGBC in supporting the Mission Efficiency call to action.

Source: https://www.usgbc.org/