IEA workshop emphasizes the “multiple benefits” of energy efficiency

The International Energy Agency kicked off a three-day workshop on Monday titled Beyond energy savings: The multiple benefits of energy efficiency, to emphasize the reach and impact of energy efficiency policies.

More than 70 participants from the public and private sectors are attending the event and discuss the latest thinking on designing, evaluating and communicating energy efficiency policies with “multiple benefits.”

The term was coined in the IEA’s 2014 publication, Capturing the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency, and refers to the idea that energy efficiency can have impacts beyond energy savings, including for the environment, health and economic prosperity.

“It is crucial to view policy problems holistically because the challenges facing the world are increasingly interlinked,” said Keisuke Sadamori, the IEA’s Director of energy markets and security. “Boosting energy efficiency has the potential to solve a range of policy problems at once: from fighting climate change to supporting economic productivity. Emphasising its multiple benefits strengthens the case for scaling up energy efficiency, which is crucial to the clean energy transition.”

On the first day, policymakers from Australia, the United States, Italy, New Zealand, and the IEA’s newest member, Mexico, explained how energy efficiency had delivered a range of multiple benefits in their countries: from improved health due to better insulated homes, to jobs created thanks to efficient appliance manufacturing.

The workshop runs until Wednesday.