Browse by: "2016"

Often called the “first fuel” of the global energy system, energy efficiency is one of the most important steps that any government can take to move towards a sustainable energy system.

To check on the progress made on this front, the IEA Energy Efficiency Market Report tracks the core indicators of energy efficiency. This year, the report takes a new approach and expands the scope of analysis by examining the drivers of energy efficiency programmes in emerging economies, as well as the impact of those policies.

Some of the questions that are addressed in this year’s report include:

• Which countries and policies are having the greatest impact, and what is the recipe for their success?
• Are we improving energy efficiency fast enough to achieve our climate goals?
• What is the size of energy efficiency investments around the world and in key energy-consuming sectors?
• What has been the impact of low energy prices on these efficiency investments?
• What are the benefits of efficiency programmes on climate policy, energy security and public budgets?
• What are the market trends for energy efficiency services and financing?

The Energy Efficiency Market Report is the global tracker for energy efficiency programmes, providing policy makers and the private sector with insights on the latest trends and market prospects.

In recent years, Belgium has made clear progress in increasing competition in the electricity and natural gas markets. It has also managed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase the use of renewable energy. The country´s economy is becoming less energy intensive.

Belgium has excellent gas transport infrastructure, and its gas market is well-integrated with those of its neighbours. The country’s emergency oil stock levels are also high.

As in all IEA member countries, a major challenge for Belgium is to decarbonise the economy while ensuring security of supply and affordability of energy. A long-term approach is required, and, given that responsibility for energy policy is divided between the federal and regional governments, the authorities must work decisively together to form a national energy strategy.

Nuclear energy accounts for around half of Belgium’s electricity generation. The current policy is to close all nuclear power plants between 2022 and 2025, but this would seriously challenge Belgium’s efforts to ensure electricity security and provide affordable low-carbon electricity. The phase-out schedule should be relaxed to let the plants run as long as the regulator considers them safe.

To attract critical investments in the energy sector – especially in electricity generation – the government should follow closely the principles of transparency, predictability and regulatory certainty.

Under any scenario, energy supply needs to be further diversified and energy demand further limited. Transport and buildings hold a large potential for efficiency and climate gains, and fiscal incentives and price signals could be used more frequently in order to reap them.

Canada has continued to harvest its vast natural resources and witnessed a shale revolution alongside rising oil sands production and investment in the energy sector over the past five years. The medium-term outlook for gas/oil production and exports, however, is challenging amid uncertainties around pipeline developments and an era of low prices, abundant global supplies and surging production in the United States, Canada’s main export market.

Canada maintains the highest energy supply per capita among IEA member countries. Emissions from the oil and gas sectors increased by 14% in 2005-13, despite Canada’s low-carbon electricity mix (largely hydro and nuclear). The federal government, with the provinces, has put forward stringent energy efficiency and emission standards in the buildings, power and transport sectors, but not in industry. To strengthen its position as responsible energy supplier and user, Canada must take action to mitigate emissions and energy intensity. It can continue to develop its resources in a sustainable and cost-effective manner while balancing its economic and sustainability goals.

Canada remains at the forefront of technological and regulatory innovation in unconventional oil and gas production and carbon capture and storage (CCS) with four large-scale CCS projects under way in 2015. The country has adopted ambitious climate targets at provincial and federal levels, but the federation is far from meeting its targets for 2020 and 2030. In July 2015, the Premiers of the provinces and territories agreed a Canadian Energy Strategy. The IEA urges the federal government to seize this opportunity for collective action to meet its 2030 goals and bring certainty to investment in clean-energy technologies and renewables.

This in-depth review analyses the energy policy challenges facing Canada and provides recommendations for each energy sector, including advice for the implementation of the Canadian Energy Strategy.

One of the largest economies in the world, Japan has long been a major consumer and importer of energy and a recognised leader in energy technology development. Japan’s energy policy has been dominated in recent years by its efforts to overcome the fallout from the 2011 earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident. One consequence of the accident was a gradual shutdown of all nuclear power plants, which has led to a significant rise in fossil fuels use, increased fuel imports and rising carbon dioxide emissions. It has also brought electricity prices to unsustainable levels.

Faced with these challenges, the government of Japan has revised its energy policy in recent years to focus on further diversifying its energy mix (less use of fossil fuels, more reliance on renewable energy, restarting nuclear plants when declared safe) and curbing carbon emissions. Building on these plans, Japan has outlined ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 26% between 2013 and 2030.

This emissions reduction commitment requires a balancing act between energy security, economic efficiency, environmental protection and safety. This International Energy Agency (IEA) review of Japan’s policies highlights three areas that are critical to its success: energy efficiency, increasing renewable energy supply and restarting nuclear power generation. The IEA encourages Japan to increase low-carbon sources of power supply. It also recognises that nuclear power can only be restored provided that the highest safety standards are met and the critical issues following the Fukushima accident are addressed, including decontaminating areas affected by the radioactive release and regaining public trust.

This review analyses the energy policy challenges facing Japan and provides recommendations for further policy improvements. It is intended to help guide the country towards a more secure, sustainable and affordable energy future.

Despite the difficult economic climate, Portugal has continued to develop and reform its energy policies since the previous International Energy Agency (IEA) in-depth review in 2009. These changes have resulted in greater economic activity in the energy sector, increased renewable energy deployment, further market liberalisation and greater emphasis on energy efficiency in policy making.

A new strategy emphasising renewable energy and energy efficiency has focused efforts on meeting national and European energy policy objectives, as Portugal seeks also to lower investment costs and greater national competitiveness. The new strategy includes proposals to reinforce interconnections with transnational European electricity and natural gas networks, and measures to promote economic and environmental sustainability. The strategy should accommodate regular independent reviews and monitoring tools to examine implementation of energy policy to ensure that it remains relevant and cost-effective.

Following the economic crisis, Portugal was left with a substantial tariff deficit as retail electricity tariffs were set below costs, including subsidies to renewables. Portugal’s plan to address the tariff deficit was the outcome of a negotiation process with industry stakeholders. Eliminating the tariff debt by 2020 is a significant challenge. The government must ensure swift implementation of all reform proposals and continue its efforts to identify further potential cost-saving measures in the energy sector.

This review analyses the energy policy challenges facing Portugal and provides recommendations for further policy improvements. It is intended to help guide the country towards a more secure and sustainable energy future.

Since the last International Energy Agency (IEA) review of Turkey’s energy policies, the country’s reliance on natural gas use has grown along with rising oil and gas imports, leaving the Turkish economy increasingly exposed to the volatility in oil and gas prices. Turkey aims to promote sustainable economic growth - the IEA urges the government to set a longer term energy policy agenda for 2030. However, owing to declining global liquefied natural gas prices, Turkey now has an opportunity to reduce its single supplier dependence, build a competitive gas market, and move ahead with its plans to create a regional gas hub.

Turkey’s power sector reforms have attracted private investment and fostered economic growth and energy access. Integration into a regional gas and electricity trade framework is moving along as a result of the first interconnection of Turkey with the European electricity grid and the construction of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline that will deliver gas from the Caspian to Turkey and the European Union.

In that context, the IEA urges Turkey to complete the liberalisation of its electricity and gas markets in order to attract critically needed investment. The review also notes that Turkey should set up independent transmission system operators, competitive wholesale markets, and foster resilient and modern gas and electricity infrastructure.

This review analyses the energy policy challenges facing Turkey and provides recommendations for further policy improvements. It is intended to help guide the country towards a more secure, sustainable and affordable energy future.

Cities drive economic growth but can also drive sustainable change. As the share of the world’s population living in cities rises, ambitious action in urban areas can be instrumental in achieving long‑term sustainability of the global energy system – including the carbon emission reductions required to meet the climate goals reached at COP21 in Paris. Support from national governments is a strategic prerequisite for leveraging the potential for sustainable energy technology and policy in cities that too often lies untapped.

With global energy demand set to become even greater over the coming decades, Energy Technology Perspectives 2016 (ETP 2016) looks at the technology and policy opportunities available for accelerating the transition to sustainable urban energy systems. Such potential could be the key to successfully driving an energy transition that many still think impossible, provided that local and national actions can be aligned to meet the sustainability objectives at both levels. Indeed, policies still have a long way to go in this regard: ETP 2016 presents the annual IEA Tracking Clean Energy Progress report, which finds once again that despite some notable progress, the rate of needed improvements is far slower than required to meet energy sector sustainability goals.

By setting out sustainable energy transition pathways that incorporate detailed and transparent quantitative analysis alongside well-rounded commentary, ETP 2016 and its series of related publications have become required reading not only for experts in the energy field, policy makers and heads of governments, but also for business leaders and investors.

The historic Paris Agreement on climate change sets the course for a fundamental transformation of the global economy over the next decades. The Agreement’s overarching goal of limiting global average temperature rise to “well below 2°C” will entail profound changes in the global energy system. Achieving the deep cuts in global carbon emissions that this vision requires is no small task given the enormous challenge of implementing – and eventually exceeding – current country climate pledges. This publication examines key sectors, technologies, and policy measures that will be central in the transition to a lowcarbon energy system. It addresses the following questions:

• What are the roles of coal and gas in meeting the stringent decarbonisation requirements for the power sector consistent with IEA modelling of global climate goals?
• What are moderate carbon prices accomplishing in the electricity sector, and how can they be helpful as part of a package of other policies?
• Where are the opportunities for expanding renewables and energy efficiency, and what policies and regulatory frameworks are needed to boost these low-carbon energy sources?
• How can state-owned companies, which produce a large share of global GHG emissions but are also major developers of clean energy, be encouraged to play a more effective role in the energy transition?

This report also looks at building climate resilience in the energy sector, and the use of tracking tools and metrics to monitor the progress of energy sector decarbonisation. Finally, it provides global energy and emissions data, including interregional comparisons and in-depth analysis for ten regions.

More than ever, students need to engage with mathematical concepts, think quantitatively and analytically, and communicate using mathematics. All these skills are central to a young person’s preparedness to tackle problems that arise at work and in life beyond the classroom. But the reality is that many students are not familiar with basic mathematics concepts and, at school, only practice routine tasks that do not improve their ability to think quantitatively and solve real-life, complex problems.

How can we break this pattern? This report, based on results from PISA 2012, shows that one way forward is to ensure that all students spend more “engaged” time learning core mathematics concepts and solving challenging mathematics tasks. The opportunity to learn mathematics content – the time students spend learning mathematics topics and practising maths tasks at school – can accurately predict mathematics literacy. Differences in students’ familiarity with mathematics concepts explain a substantial share of performance disparities in PISA between socio-economically advantaged and disadvantaged students. Widening access to mathematics content can raise average levels of achievement and, at the same time, reduce inequalities in education and in society at large.

Evaluation is widely recognised as an important component for learning and improving development effectiveness. Evaluation responds to public and taxpayer demands for credible information and independent assessment of development co-operation activities. The Development Assistance Committee’s Network on Development Evaluation supports members in their efforts to strengthen and continuously improve evaluation systems.

The 2016 review of evaluation systems in development co-operation looks at the changes and trends in evaluation systems over the last five years. The report describes the role and management of evaluation in development agencies, ministries and multilateral banks. It provides information about the specific institutional settings, resources, policies and practices of DAC Evaluation Network members, and includes specific profiles on each member’s evaluation system. The study identifies major trends and current challenges in development evaluation. It covers issues such as human and financial resources, institutional setups and policies, independence of the evaluation function, reporting and use of evaluation findings, joint evaluation, and the involvement of partner countries in evaluation work.

This report is part of the DAC Network on Development Evaluation’s ongoing efforts to increase the effectiveness of development co-operation policies and programmes by promoting high-quality, independent evaluation.

This report aims to shed light on how EECCA countries and development co-operation partners are working together to finance climate actions, using the OECD DAC database to examine finance flows by provider, sector, financial instrument, channel, etc. A significant amount was committed by international public sources to the 11 countries comprising the EECCA in 2013 and 2014 (i.e. USD 3.3 billion per year), but the scale of such finance varies considerably from country to country and is insufficient to achieve and strengthen their climate targets communicated through the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions COP21.

In addition, while a range of climate-related policies have already been developed by the EECCA countries, the extent to which such policies are being effectively implemented and conducive to attracting climate finance is still unclear. In this respect, this report proposes a set of questions for the EECCA countries to self-assess their readiness to seize opportunities to access scaled-up climate finance from various sources: public, private, international and domestic.

The recent debate on the role of money in politics has shed the light on the challenges of political finance regulations. What are the risks associated with the funding of political parties and election campaigns? Why are existing regulatory models still insufficient to tackle those risks? What are the links between money in politics and broader frameworks for integrity in the public sector? This report addresses these three questions and provides a Framework on Financing Democracy, designed to shape the global debate and provide policy options as well as a mapping of risks. It also features country case studies of Canada, Chile, Estonia, France, Korea, Mexico, United Kingdom, Brazil and India, providing in-depth analysis of their political finance mechanisms and challenges in different institutional settings.