Background

Energy production and use account for two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, transforming the energy sector is essential for addressing the climate challenge. This December marks a major milestone in global efforts to tackle climate change – the 21^st Conference of the Parties (COP) – when countries from around the world will gather in Paris to negotiate an international agreement and set a direction for combating climate change within the next decade and beyond. Energy will be at the core of the discussion. COP21 presents an opportunity we cannot afford to miss: to take on and abide by commitments that make a meaningful impact, to agree to additional  measures to spur further innovation and action, and to halt lock-in of high-carbon infrastructure – all while sustaining the growth of the world economy, boosting energy security and bringing modern energy to the billions who lack it today. The IEA has attended COPs since the first meeting (COP1) in Berlin, in order to provide expert advice and support on all facets of energy policy. 

IEA Events

Last updated: 6 Jan 2016

• Energy Efficient Prosperity
• Making the Energy Sector More Resilient to Climate Change
• Scaling Up Renewables: implications for energy security, electricity market design, and industry
• IEA Day: Analysis for COP21 and beyond
• Joint IEA/China High Level Side Event
• High-Level Event on Zero Emission Vehicles
• Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) Innovation Focus
• Official IEA/ADB Side Event - How can the 2015 Agreement Drive Energy Sector Transformation and Climate Technology Transfer/Development?
• IEA Big Energy Debates: Critical Issues in Energy and Climate
• Accelerating innovation through energy technology collaboration
• Using Data to Track the Energy Transition
• Additional IEA staff presentations

Energy Efficient Prosperity

1 December (Tu), 15:00-18:00
Climate Generations area, Room 3

Agenda and presentations available HERE.

Making the Energy Sector More Resilient to Climate Change

2 December (W), 11:15-12:00
Blue Zone, EU Pavilion

Moderator: Ellina Levina, IEA

• Philippe Benoit‌, Head of Energy Efficiency and Environment Division, IEA
• David Turk, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Climate and Technology at the U.S. Department of Energy
• Beatriz Yordi‌, Climate Action DG, Head of Adaptation Unit, European Commission‌‌

Scaling Up Renewables: implications for energy security, electricity market design, and industry

2 December (W), 17:00-18:30
Climate Generations area, Room 3

Welcome
• Paolo FRANKL Director, Energy Markets and Security/Division Head, Renewable Energy Division

PART I: Integration of large shares of variable renewables

Securing the value of solar and wind
• Simon Müller‌‌‌‌, Analyst, Renewable Energy Division, IEA 

Technical and Economic Analysis of the European Electricity System with 60% RES
• Vera Silva‌‌‌‌, Senior Engineer, EDF – R&D

Energysystem Germany 2050
• Andreas PALZER, Division Thermal Systems and Buildings, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems

PART II: Market Outlook and Policy Frameworks

Medium Term Renewable Energy Market Report
• Michael Waldron‌‌‌‌, Analyst, Renewable Energy Division, IEA

Panel discussion: Policies for delivering power system transformation
• Panellists: Daniela ALVAREZ (CIFES, Chile); Georgina GRENON (DGEC, France); LEI Xianzhang (SGCC, China); Albert MELO (CEPEL, Brazil); Claude TURMES (EU Parliament); Stefan ULRECIH (E.On, Germany); Panel moderated by Jesse SCOTT, IEA/EMS/Gas, Coal and Power Division

IEA Day: Analysis for COP21 and beyond

3 December (Th), 10:00-19:00
Blue Zone, WBCSD/IETA Pavilion

Agenda and presentations available HERE.

Joint IEA/China High Level Side Event

4 December (F), 16:00-18:00
Blue Zone, China Pavilion

Introduction of the Side Event
• SU Wei, Director General, Department of Climate Change, NDRC

Opening Remarks
• XIE Zhenhua, China’s Special Envoy on Climate Change
• Fatih Birol, Executive Director, IEA

Keynote Presentations, moderated by Kevin Tu, China program manager, IEA

Pathways towards National Carbon Emissions Peaking in China
• DU Xiangwan, Chairman of China's National Committee of Climate Change Experts

Renewable development and climate change with focus on China and international cooperation
• Keisuke Sadamori, Director for Energy Market and Security, IEA‌

China’s Climate Policy and Actions with focus on National Emissions Trading
• LIU Qiang, Director of Strategic Planning, NCSC, NDRC

Energy access in Asia: Implications for China’s Climate Policy
• Kamel Ben Naceur, Director for Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology, IEA‌

Concluding Remarks
Fatih Birol, Executive Director, IEA

High-Level Event on Zero Emission Vehicles

8 December (Tu), 13:30-15:00
Netherlands Pavilion

Agenda and speaker list available HERE.

Lima-Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) Innovation Focus

8 December (Tu), 15:00-18:15
Blue Zone, Obs. Room 12

‌Agenda and press conference webcast available HERE.

Official IEA/ADB Side Event - How can the 2015 Agreement Drive Energy Sector Transformation and Climate Technology Transfer/Development? 

9 December (W), 16:45-18:15
Blue Zone, Obs. Room 2

IEA-ADB Agenda

Opening remarks by the event organisers
• Mr. Bambang Susantono, VP for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA)

Moderator: Kamel Ben Naceur, Director for Sustainable Energy Policy and Technologies, IEA

IEA scene setting presentation on the role of the energy sector in climate change mitigation
• Kamel Ben Naceur‌‌‌, Director for Sustainable Energy Policy and Technologies, IEA‌

ADB experience on the ground with investments in technology development and transfer presentation
• Ashok Bhargava‌, Director, Energy Division, East Asia Regional Department, ADB‌

Experience with and expectation from decarbonizing the energy sector
• Sir David King, Special Representative for Climate Change, the United Kingdom

Perspective on importance of technology development and transfer for energy transformation and resilience
• Farida Zed‌, Director of Energy Conservation, Ministry of Energy, Indonesia‌

Experience with and expectation from energy transformation and the importance of cooperation on technology development and transfer with developing and emerging economies
• His Excellency Minister Ibrahim Baylan, Swedish Ministry of Energy

Moderated Discussion (Q&A)

IEA Big Energy Debates: Critical Issues in Energy and Climate 

10 December (Th), 11:15-14:15
Climate Generations area, Room 6

11h15 - Welcome and opening remarks
11h30 - Development with much lower emissions: what would it look like?
13h00 - Air quality and GHGs: will rising concerns about local air pollution move the dial on climate?

Agenda and speaker list available HERE.

Accelerating innovation through energy technology collaboration

10 December (Th), 15:15-18:45
Blue Zone, OECD Pavilion

Welcome and opening remarks
• Fatih Birol, Executive Director, IEA

Session 1: Delivering innovation through cooperation

Moderator: Nick Johnstone, Head of Structural Policy Division, OECD

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM): highlights of action-oriented forum of major economies aiming to improve policies and expand markets for innovative clean energy technologies.
• Dave Turk, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Climate and Technology, US DOE

The IEA’s Energy Technology Network and the Technology Collaboration Programmes: taking stock of 40 years of multilateral energy technology innovation
• Kamel Ben Naceur‌, Director of Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology, IEA

TNA and related implementation schemes to support the uptake of innovative technology solutions to developing countries
• Jukka Uosukainen, Director, Climate Technology Centre & Network, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP-CTCN)

The Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF): a forum for collaborative research on innovative energy technologies.
• Hiroshi Kuniyoshi, Special Adviser, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)
• David Sandalow‌‌‌‌‌, Inaugural Fellow, Columbia University‌‌

European Innovation Union: mobilising governments, businesses and researchers to deliver clean energy innovation across the EU
• Paul Verhoef, Head of Unit for Renewable Energy Sources, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission‌

The Low-Carbon Technology Partnerships Initiative (LCTPi)
• Maria Mendiluce, Managing Director Climate & Energy, WBCSD ‌

Session 2: Implementing energy technology collaboration: gaps, opportunities and synergies stemming from experiences of multilateral innovation

Keynote: Mission Innovation: fostering greater multilateral collaboration to make clean energy widely affordable
• Paul Durrant, Head of Energy Innovation Policy, Department of Energy & Climate Change, UK‌

Panel discussion moderated by: Jean-François Gagné, Head of Energy Technology Policy Division, IEA

Panellists:

• Brian Ó Gallachóir, Chair, IEA Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP), Energy Technology Systems Initiative
• Georgina Grenon, Vice Chair, IEA TCP Renewable Energy Technology Deployment
• John Gale, General Manager, IEA TCP Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme
• Bernard Frois, Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU)
• Martin Hiller, Director General, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)
• Andrea Karpati, Head of Policy, Knowledge and Innovation Community on Climate (Climate-KIC)

Using Data to Track the Energy Transition

11 December (F), 15:15-16:45
Blue Zone, OECD Pavilion

Agenda‌

Moderator: Philippe Benoit, Head, Energy Efficiency and Environment Division, IEA

The IEA key messages to COP 21
• Kamel Ben Naceur‌‌, Director, Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology, IEA (10 min)

Highlights from the Track the Energy Transition Brochure
• Takashi Hattori‌‌, Head, Environment and Climate Change Unit, IEA (10 min)
• Caroline Lee‌, Energy Policy Analyst, IEA

Overview of IEA Energy Data
• Duncan Millard, Chief Statistician, Energy Data Centre, IEA (20 min)

Role of Energy Sector Metrics in Tracking Progress: User Perspectives
• Thomas Spencer, Program Director, Energy and Climate, Institut du développement durable et des relations internationales (IDDRI) (5 min)
• Casey Cronin, Associate Director, Advisory & Research, ClimateWorks (5 min)

Q & A session (30 min)‌‌

Additional IEA staff presentations

Impact of the INDCs on the global energy outlook (1 Dec)
• Kamel Ben Naceur, Director of Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology

Buildings in a low-carbon world (3 Dec)
event on research and capacity building in energy efficiency and green buildings
• John Dulac, Lead Buildings Analyst

Scaling-up Renewables: Critical Success Factors (4 Dec)
• Paolo Frankl, Head of Renewable Energy Division

Renewable Energies for Manufacturing Industries (4 Dec)
• Cedric Philibert, Senior Energy Analyst Renewable Energy Technologies

Renewables in the MENA region (5 Dec)
• Cedric Philibert, Senior Energy Analyst Renewable Energy Technologies

Renewables in the energy transition (7 Dec)
event on strategic metals
• Cedric Philibert, Senior Energy Analyst Renewable Energy Technologies

World Energy Outlook 2015 (7 Dec)
Climate Parliament Roundtable on Green Growth
• Timur Gül, Senior Energy Analyst

Energy Efficiency: at the center of the climate change challenge (11 Dec)
• Philippe Benoit, Head of Energy Efficiency and Environment Division 

Climate change
Clean energy technologies
Energy efficiency
Energy poverty
Renewables
ClassicStats
Transport 

F‌rench COP 21 website
UNFCCC COP 21 website
IEA COP20 Lima webpage