International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation
Encyclopedia
The International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC) is a high-level international forum which includes developed and developing countries. Its purpose is to enhance global cooperation in the field of energy efficiency
Efficient energy use
Efficient energy use, sometimes simply called energy efficiency, is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. For example, insulating a home allows a building to use less heating and cooling energy to achieve and maintain a comfortable temperature...

 (EE) and to facilitate policies that yield energy efficiency gains across all sectors globally.
Its foundation in May 2009 represents a key milestone in the improvement of energy efficiency, generally referred to as the use of the least amount of energy per unit of production and/or population.

The IPEEC promotes energy efficiency worldwide by exchanging information related to energy efficiency, developing partnerships between energy efficiency actors and supporting energy efficient initiatives. IPEEC supported initiatives are open to both member and non-member nations as well as the private sector.

History

At the Gleneagles (2005) and the St.Petersburg (2006) Summits, the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries emphasized the need for global cooperation in the field of 33rd G8 summit
33rd G8 summit
The 33rd G8 summit took place at Kempinski Grand Hotel in Heiligendamm in the old Duchy of Mecklenburg in the Northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the Baltic Coast. The group of eight leaders met together from 6 June to 8 June 2007...

 at Heiligendamm in June 2007, the G8 approved an EU proposal for an international initiative on energy efficiency and decided to explore the most efficient way to promote energy efficiency worldwide, jointly with the International Energy Agency
International Energy Agency
The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis...

 (IEA).

Since its creation by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1974, the IEA has promoted energy efficiency. However its members are all developed countries. The growing economic interdependence amongst nations, the increasingly globalized energy market and the environmental issues affecting every country make the idea of a worldwide forum particularly relevant. IPEEC provides exactly such a forum that opens up a dialogue on energy, economic and environment issues between developed and developing nations as well as the private sector.

One year after the Heiligendamm Summit, on 8 June 2008, in Aomori, at the Energy Ministerial meeting hosted by Japan during its G8 Presidency, the energy minister
Energy minister
An energy minister is a position in many governments responsible for energy production and regulation, developing governmental energy policy, scientific research, and natural resources conservation...

s from the G8 and from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 and the European Community agreed to establish the IPEEC. In the Aomori Declaration, signed on June 8, 2008, the energy ministers acknowledged that "all countries , both developed and developing, share common interests for improving their energy efficiency performance", and that "developed countries need to play an important role in cooperation with developing countries, accelerating dissemination and transfer of best practices and efficient technologies".

On May 24, 2009 in Rome, the G8 members, China, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico signed the Terms of Reference of the IPEEC. This group signature officially created the IPEEC. The same day, the representatives of these countries also signed the Memorandum' asking the IEA to host the IPEEC Secretariat.

The 9th meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministers in Japan in 2010 resulted in the Fukui Declaration that supported IPEEC’s goal by stating that "improving energy efficiency is one of the quickest, greenest and most cost-effective ways to address energy security, economic growth and climate change challenges at the same time".

Organization

The IPEEC is an autonomous, independent organization. Specifically, its work program and its financing are separate from that of the OECD and the IEA. The Partnership relies on voluntary contributions (VCs) of IPEEC members and other entities. These VCs include financial as well as in-kind contributions.

IPEEC's technical work program spans several sectors. Member countries lead and participate in dedicated Task Groups that design and implement the IPEEC's technical work program. The Secretariat leads 2 additional technical initiatives. The Task Groups are funded directly by their participating members.

The IPEEC is run by an Executive Committee (ExCo), a Policy Committee (PoCo) and a Secretariat.

Both the Executive Committee (Japan as current Chair) and the Policy Committee (USA as current Chair) provide overall guidance on administrative, policy and technical issues. They are made up of representatives of the IPEEC members. The Policy Committee governs the overall framework and policies of the IPEEC, follows the progress of the Task Groups as well as the work of the Executive Committee and the Secretariat.

The Executive Committee examines and adopts the proposals of the member countries and the budget for each year, examines membership requests, provides guidance and oversight to the Secretariat and develops proposals for the Task Groups while reviewing some of the Task Groups’ work.

The Secretariat, working under its Executive Director (currently Amit Bando
Amit Bando
Amit Bando is Executive Director of the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation Secretariat.During his career as a policy scientist at the United States Department of Energy and an international consultant, Bando has worked in over 60 nations to promote innovative financing of...

), is the coordinator of the IPEEC's communications outreach and activities. Its administrative functions include the organization of the meetings of the Policy Committee and the Executive Committee, the screening and forwarding of membership requests to the Executive Committee, and the coordination of IPEEC information (status, activities). In addition, the Secretariat provides overall guidance to IPEEC's technical work program and monitors work progress, while providing critical technical input to several initiatives.

As agreed by the IPEEC members at the meeting in London on 18 December 2008, the Secretariat is hosted at the International Energy Agency in Paris "so that the IPEEC can make full use of the knowledge, experiences and capacity of the IEA". The agreement for this hosting was finalized with the signature of the Memorandum concerning the hosting by the IEA of the Secretariat to the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation on May 24, 2009.

Members

In May 2009, the countries of the G8, China, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico signed the IPEEC Terms of Reference. India joined the IPEEC during the first meeting of the Executive Committee in September 2009. The European Union signed IPEEC's Terms of Reference during the second meeting of the same committee in January, 2010.

In October 2010, IPEEC members included Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the USA. Several other countries are awaiting IPEEC membership.

IPEEC’s membership includes OECD and non-OECD countries. Members represent developed and developing countries, who collectively account for over 75% of global GDP and energy-use. As such, IPEEC provides a ministerial-level forum for meaningful dialogue between key global energy users on energy efficiency, energy security, climate change, sustainable economic development and related issues.

The IPEEC membership guidelines are inclusive and encourage all nations to participate in the organization's initiatives. In particular, the IPEEC Terms of Reference state that "the IPEEC is open to other governmental entities and international organizations". It is indeed important for IPEEC to enable cooperation between all countries willing to promote energy efficient programs, regardless of their level of development. Task Group participation is open to all nations, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and private sector entities.
Current membership:
 Australia
 Brazil
 Canada
 Mainland China
 European Union
 Early Modern France
 Germany
 India
 Italy
 Japan
 Mexico
 Russia
 South Korea
 United Kingdom
 United States

Initiatives

The IPEEC's work program includes several initiatives led by IPEEC member nations (task groups) as well as others led by the Secretariat. These include:

AEEFM - Assessment of Energy Efficiency Finance Mechanisms (led by India)

AEEFM seeks to identify and document methods to overcome the multiple barriers that impede the successful and widespread financing of energy efficiency projects. In particular, AEEFM is currently examining how energy efficiency projects can better utilize financing from domestic sources, such as commercial banks. This initiative is evaluating the use of mechanisms such as tax policy, lending/subsidy programs and energy service companies (ESCOs) to address known financial barriers.

EMAK - Energy Management Action Network for Industrial Efficiency (led by Japan)

EMAK is working on creating a forum to promote energy management in industry. Its goal is to interconnect two groups of major actors; one of policymakers and the other of industry leaders. Networking these two groups is meant to serve as a platform to share best practices for managing and reporting industrial energy consumption.

GSEP - Global Superior Energy Performance (led by the USA)

GSEP's aim is to cut global energy use:
  1. by participating in energy performance improvements in industrial facilities and large buildings (which, put together, represent almost 60 percent of global energy use) and
  2. by promoting public-private partnerships for cooperation in individual energy-intensive sectors. In general, GSEP helps businesses, governments, and other owners/operators of industrial facilities and large buildings to identify and follow money-saving pathways to reduce energy use and greenhouse emissions.


IPEEI - Improving Policies through Energy Efficiency Indicators (led by France)

IPEEI develops and implements methodologies for energy efficiency indicators that measure and report energy performance and explores the problems associated with the use of these methodologies. This is being achieved through a series of engagements between international experts and the sharing of technical expertise among nations.

SEAD - Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (led by USA)

SEAD aims at increasing the market penetration of super-efficient appliances through coordinated action and technical exchange by governments committed to market transformation for efficient appliances and equipment. It collaborates on test methods to measure appliance efficiency and coordinates incentives for manufacturers to provide more efficient equipment and appliances which could dramatically reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions while saving consumers money. SEAD focuses on appliances of common interest to participating countries emphasizing those with large energy savings potential and high probabilities of market transformation success.

SBN - Sustainable Buildings Network (led by Germany)

SBN identifies policies which improve building energy efficiency in different regions of the globe. The current focus-areas are: intelligent tropical architecture, zero energy buildings, and policy packages to make existing buildings more energy efficient.

WEACT - Worldwide Energy Efficiency Action through Capacity Building and Training (led by Italy)

WEACT facilitates the creation, improvement and implementation of energy efficiency policy-making capacity in developing & emerging economies. This initiative is being implemented via capacity building events that include a high-level policy seminar and six technical workshops on energy efficiency options in key sectors such as buildings, appliances, and transportation.

Compilation and Summary of National Energy Efficiency Action Plans and Activities (led by IPEEC Secretariat)

This project is developing an inventory and will publish a summary of national energy efficiency action plans and activities that are submitted by IPEEC member countries. The goal is to identify and highlight best practice, policies and programs.

Inventory and Review of Multilateral and International Energy Efficiency Initiatives (led by IPEEC Secretariat)

This project is identifying and compiling summaries of existing multilateral and international energy efficiency initiatives that include an assessment of the effectiveness of such initiatives. This will enable IPEEC to highlight success stories and identify areas where additional work or coordination is needed.

See also

  • International Renewable Energy Agency
    International Renewable Energy Agency
    The International Renewable Energy Agency was founded in 2009 to promote widespread and increased adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy. IRENA facilitates access to all relevant renewable energy information, including technical data...

  • Energy policy
    Energy policy
    Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity has decided to address issues of energy development including energy production, distribution and consumption...

  • Energy policy of the European Union
    Energy policy of the European Union
    Although the European Union has legislated in the area of energy policy for many years, and evolved out of the European Coal and Steel Community, the concept of introducing a mandatory and comprehensive European energy policy was only approved at the meeting of the European Council on 27 October...

  • Low-Carbon Task Force of the World Economic Forum
  • Data center infrastructure efficiency
    Data center infrastructure efficiency
    Data center infrastructure efficiency , is a performance improvement metric used to calculate the energy efficiency of a data center...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK