IEA 9th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency Wrap Up

The International Energy Agency (IEA) held the 9th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency held in Nairobi, co-hosted by IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and Kenya’s Minister of Energy and Petroleum Davis Chirchir. AEE was represented by Bill Kent, AEE Executive Director, Mary Elise Cox, Senior Director for Global Development, and Yolanda de Lange, IEPA Executive Director and Regional VP for Members Development for Sub-Saharan Africa.

The two-day IEA EE event, the first one held outside of Europe and the largest IEA even held in Africa, brought together industry leaders to help focus on accelerating policy for energy efficiency. The key focus was on action and people.

High-level panels highlighted local, regional, and international commitment to support energy efficiency and the challenges and opportunities.

The agenda included panels discussing access, affordability, appliances, clean cooking, as well as financing and the role of government and industry. Of the people on earth without access to energy, 80% are in Africa. Global doubling of energy efficiency can only be achieved by supporting developing countries. 

Day two of the conference opened with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol reminding us that the 8th version of the IEA Energy Efficiency Conference held last year in Versailles brought together governments with a declaration around doubling energy efficiency that gave birth to the COP28 consensus in Dubai. We also heard from Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. H.E. Rigathi Gachagua stated, “We can only transform our world together when we make deliberate efforts of incorporating & doubling energy efficiency in every strand of development.”

AEE was pleased to provide a local and global perspective in a special event hosted by the Energy Efficiency Movement (EEM), Scaling Energy Efficiency Action in Industry. EEM reports that, “The industry sector accounts for about one-third of today’s global total final energy consumption. Industrial energy consumption has steadily risen in recent years. Since 2000, total global energy industry consumption rose by almost 70%. Doubling efficiency progress could cut energy bills by one-third and makeup 50% of CO2 reductions by 2030.”

AEE played a pivotal role in presenting to industry leaders a view of “From What to How” in relation to the IEA Versailles10x10 Action Plan, a set of 10 action items developed at the IEA Global Energy Efficiency conference held last year in Versailles, https://www.iea-events.org/8th-global-conference/content/outcomes. AEE underscored the importance of Skills and People and how impactful and critical capacity building and industry recognized certifications are to meeting energy efficiency targets. Sharing success stories and challenging industry to invest in their people through certification training programs on energy efficiency.

AEE was gratified to witness a significant number of AEE certified professionals actively participating in the IEA Energy Efficiency event in Nairobi, reaffirming AEE’s commitment to action and reflecting the shared commitment by Kenyans and the national government to go “From What to How.”

“My takeaway from the few impactful days in Nairobi is that people, collaboration, and success will bring the inspiration needed to accomplish a doubling of energy efficiency globally by 2030.” Bill Kent, AEE Executive Director.

In support of the event, IEA developed the Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit 2024: From Versailles to Nairobi in support of this toolkit equips governments with 12 concrete policy tools to address energy efficiency in buildings, appliances, industry, and vehicles. Its goal is to help governments contribute to the global target of doubling energy efficiency progress by 2030, as agreed upon in the UAE Consensus reached at COP28 in Dubai and the Versailles Statement from the IEA’s 8th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in 2023.