Idea: building agreement at Copenhagen
Copenhagen, 04.12.2009 - REEEP International Secretariat
Can buildings be a fast track to a climate accord?
It is a radical yet simple suggestion. The IEA has estimated that if 25 energy efficiency policy recommendations were fully implemented globally, they would save 8.2Gt of CO2 emissions in 2030, which corresponds to some 20% of all energy sector emissions projected in the business-as-usual scenario for the same year. Agreement to fully implement these measures alone would bring global emissions back to 2005 levels, despite a doubling in economic activity and an assumed 22% increase in global population.
Meanwhile, negotiations in Copenhagen are focussing on broad national commitments to reduce emissions, as well as setting carbon price signals and intensity targets. But as the above estimates imply, there is actually huge mitigation potential down in the details. And in the details, there is already agreement: energy efficiency is a triple winner.
Turning the order of dialogue on its head to act at policy level could make getting a global climate accord much less intractable. Developing and supporting a framework that assists countries in identifying all the energy efficiency solutions and developing the policies to match, offers tremendous potential. And delivering targeted efficiency measures that don’t disrupt the economy would increase the general level of confidence in the entire UNFCCC process.
This is the line of argument offered by a REEEP Energy Efficiency Coalition position paper authored by Paul Waide, Director at Navigant Consulting. The entire topic of energy efficiency in buildings as an untapped resource for mitigating climate change, will also be the focus of the Energy Efficiency Coalition event held over cocktails at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers from 18.00 -20.00 on Thursday, 10th December.
Click here for more on this event. The position paper being distributed in Copenhagen can be downloaded here: