The Missing Guest: Energy Efficiency in the Multilateral Energy Arena

Since the 1970s, energy efficiency has gained visibility as a low hanging fruit – its potential impact on critical issues such as climate change, energy security, or competitiveness is now widely acknowledged, even more so in times of higher energy prices. • The benefits of energy efficiency are proven. To name only one example, a recent study has shown that, at the European level, without energy efficiency polices from 1990 to 2013, energy-use would have been 12% higher in 2013. • However, progress on energy efficiency is too slow and putting the world at risk of not reaching the sustainable development or Paris-Agreement climate goals. • One of the reasons may be that, unlike renewable energy, energy efficiency has no dedicated multilateral organization and remains fragmented. The topic is handled by many diverse initiatives, agencies, and projects, without any “one-stop-shop”, and is not immune to competing agendas. • Strengthening the existing multilateral institutional setting on energy efficiency is paramount, starting with the recently established Energy Efficiency Hub, and focusing on result-oriented and inclusive activities in a selection of countries with a high impact potential.