By Susanna Twidale
LONDON (Reuters) – Countries must double the pace of measures to improve energy efficiency if global climate targets are to be met, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report on Wednesday.
Record high energy costs last year helped to spur the take-up of measures such replacing gas boilers with heat pumps and switching to LED lightbulbs, but the rate of energy efficiency progress has since slowed, the IEA said.
This year’s U.N. climate talks begin on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates and will be the first global assessment of progress since the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015. It set a goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), while aiming for a cap of 1.5C.
“The world’s climate ambitions hinge on our ability to make the global energy system much more efficient,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said.
“If governments want to keep the 1.5 degree Celsius goal within reach while supporting energy security, doubling energy efficiency progress this decade is critical,” he said.
The IEA said investments have led to energy being used 1.3% more efficiently this year compared with last year, but that the improvement rate had slowed from a 2% increase in 2022.
Energy efficiency needs to double from that level to 4% a year for climate targets to be met, the IEA said.
Some $700 billion has been spent globally on energy efficiency support since 2020, the IEA said. Of this, almost 70% was spent in just five countries – France, Germany, Italy, Norway and the United States.
(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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