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The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis that has major implications for world economies, energy use and CO2 emissions. According to the IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2020 report, the immediate effects of the pandemic on the energy system shows expected falls in 2020 of 5% in global energy demand, 7% in energy-related CO2 emissions and 18% in energy investment. Oil consumption is anticipated to decline by 8% and coal use by 7%. However, as with previous crises, the rebound in emissions may be larger than the decline, unless the wave of investments to restart economies is dedicated to cleaner and more resilient energy infrastructure. Decarbonizing energy use in time to avert catastrophic climate change requires increased international cooperation. Recovery measures following COVID-19 pandemic could include flexible power grids, efficiency solutions, electric vehicle charging, energy storage, interconnected hydropower, green hydrogen and other technology investments consistent with long-term energy and climate sustainability.
In line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a global movement to address these challenges by substantially increasing investment in renewable energy technologies and implementation, doubling the rate of improvement to energy efficiency, and changing user behaviours, with the aim to achieve absolute decoupling between energy consumption and economic growth.
Created an Event in Energy, Cities and Urban Development
Created a Post in Energy, Green Recovery from COVID-19
More homeowners in Kosovo will be able to invest in domestic energy efficiency improvements as a consequence of a new €5 million credit line the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending to Raiffeisen Bank Kosovo. The financing is part of a larger €135 million Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) programme for the Western Balkans, which supports energy-efficient solutions to build a greener and sustainable economy. To date, more than 8,000 households in the Western Balkans have improved their energy efficiency through the GEFF programme, with investments in projects that contributed to a reduction of nearly than 12,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, equivalent to removing 7,270 cars from the street.
Created a Post in Climate Change, Energy, Transportation and Mobility
The treaty is structured around a fundamental right and a fundamental duty. The first article proposes the first ever binding formulation, at a global level, of the right of “every person […] to live in an ecologically sound environment”.
The Pact is a compass defining a direction by means of converging binding principles. Such principles should be used first and foremost as legal parameters to design policies, both domestic and international, that prevent further environmental harm.
Created a Post in Energy, Sustainable Finance
A coalition of investors that manage more than $4 trillion in assets wrote a letter to some of the world’s biggest banks to demand bolder action for addressing climate change and biodiversity decline, including publishing short-term climate-related targets and ending all coal finance by 2040.
Created a Post in Climate Change, Energy
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), energy efficiency must take a leading role as the “first fuel” in climate-related development assistance in order to achieve the dual objective of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while catalyzing economic development.
Addressing climate change will require a near complete transformation in the ways we generate, distribute, and use energy. To maximize the chances of mitigating the worst impacts of climate change, we must reduce the energy needed to sustain current energy consumption by using it more efficiently.
Strategic dam planning and the deployment of decentralized renewable technologies are two elements of the same problem, yet normally addressed in isolation. Here, the research indicates that an integrated view of the power system capacity expansion problem could have transformative effects for Southeast Asia’s hydropower plans.
Created a Post in Energy, Climate Change
Air pollution in the cold countries of Central Asia is particularly high during winter due to the consumption of solid fuels for space heating. Evidence-based policy recommendations are needed to facilitate the transition from solid fuel consumption to the use of cleaner fuels for residential heating and cooking, particularly in Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. This is important not only for improving health conditions for the inhabitants and visitors in these countries but also for reducing the life-threatening health hazards arising from indoor cooking and heating.
Many model pathways designed to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement rely heavily on large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR), also known as “negative emissions”.
This has prompted concerns that the promise of being able to use CDR in the future might dilute incentives to cut fossil fuel use today, a phenomenon known as “mitigation deterrence”.
Created a Post in Energy
Almost two-thirds of wind and solar projects built globally last year will be able to generate cheaper electricity than even the world’s cheapest new coal plants, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Residential energy efficiency is one of the most effective and cheapest tools available to combat climate change and it can also be a great investment. However, taking the case example of the US market, according to data from industry group American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy indicates that at historical adoption rates, it will take 500 years to complete whole-home retrofits of all US homes and apartments, compared to 60 years for retrofitting its commercial building stock. One of the main reasons is the hefty upfront costs of reducing energy bills that customers have to bear ranging from $15,000-$20,000. Customer awareness and behaviour, and government policy also play vital roles in boosting the residential energy efficiency market.