Delivering Energy Efficiency

Energy Charter member countries should strengthen their capacity to develop and implement energy efficiency policies if the widespread political commitment to improve energy efficiency is to be turned into a reality. This was a main conclusion arising from a Conference on ‘Delivering Energy Efficiency’, co-organised by the Energy Charter Secretariat and the Romanian Ministry of Economy and Finance, which took place in Bucharest on 23 May 2007.

The Bucharest Conclusions on Capacity Building in Energy Efficiency were signed at the end of the Conference by André Mernier, Secretary General of the Charter Secretariat, and by Darius Mesca, the Romanian State Secretary for Energy. As well as strengthening institutional capacity, this document underlines the importance of coordination between different parts of government, notably those responsible for energy efficiency, for environmental policy and climate change, and for economic development.

The Conference itself (see programme) was attended by 120 participants from across the Energy Charter constituency, and provided the opportunity to analyse progress in implementing energy efficiency polices and programmes in countries subscribing to the Energy Charter’s Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects (PEEREA), with a focus on the experience of Southeast Europe. It examined how the liberalisation of energy markets is affecting the effectiveness and design of energy efficiency policy measures, and also generated a clearer understanding of the barriers to energy efficiency, which need to be addressed from an economic, regulatory and technological point of view, taking into account also the changing behaviour and expectations of end-users.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, the Secretary General said that a main challenge facing today’s policymakers is “how to channel their commitment to energy efficiency into specific policies and programmes, and to ensure that political will is matched by adequate financial and human resources.” This was the topic for varied interventions during the two-day meeting, including keynote addresses from the Romanian Minister of Economy and Finance Varujan Vosganian, Director in the European Commission's DG TREN Anne Houtman, and the Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy Silvia Ciornei.

Summing up the discussion, the Energy Charter’s Director for Investment and Energy Efficiency Dario Chello noted that while there were some issues common to all the countries examined – such as the importance of action in the building sector, and the potential to expand the use of combined heat and power installations (CHP) – it was very important to take into account the national characteristics of each country that require specific actions and measures. He also underlined the need to internationalise energy efficiency policies and measures, for example through a new framework agreement on energy efficiency as proposed by the European Commission, in which the Energy Charter can play an important role.

On the day following the Conference, delegates had the chance to attend the final meeting of an EU-sponsored project on “Energy Efficiency Indicators in the European Union”. This meeting addressed the key issues of how to monitor the effects of policies and measures on energy efficiency and how to allocate the merits of improvements. (To view the synthesis on energy efficiency indicators, click here; To view the synthesis on energy efficiency policies, click here; To view the case study on the impact of policy measures, click here; To access the national presentations click here)

There was also a regular meeting of the Energy Charter’s PEEREA Group, which brings together energy efficiency experts from across the Energy Charter constituency, and which provides a forum for policy debate and exhange of experience on energy efficiency issues.