Energy efficiency could halve predicted growth in global energy demand, securing extra time for governments to forge an effective international climate change deal, according to a major new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) that today warns climate change is again slipping down the political agenda.
The Paris-based organization's World Energy Outlook [2] (WEO) report highlights successful policies to cut energy consumption in the US, EU and Japan, but cautions even with these and other new regulations in place two-thirds of the economically viable energy efficiency improvements will remain unrealized through to 2035.
Investment of $11.8tr in energy efficiency technologies would be more than offset by an $18tr boost to the world economy by 2035, the report calculates, with especially large gains available in India, China, the US, and Europe.