Electric motor-driven system (EMDS) accounts for more than 40% of global electricity consumption. This paper sets out an ambitious but achievable target with the global work plan to improve the energy efficiency of EMDS by 10% to 15% based on findings from the working paper ‘Energy Efficiency Policy Opportunities for Electric Motor-Driven System (Waide et al., 2011)’. If governments commit to the proposed work plan immediately, and maintain resourcing levels, the target could be achieved by 2030 and would be equivalent to reducing total global electricity use by around 5%. The proposed work plan of this paper is to align regulatory settings within a globally applicable scheme. The IEA believes its target can only be achieved through global co-operation leading to aligned national policy settings.