28 March 2013

Why an energy savings target should be part of the 2030 climate and energy policy framework from the start.

On 27 March the European Commission issued a green paper on a new post 2020 climate and energy policy framework that officially opens the discussions to gain the views of the different stakeholders in the EU. It is intended to set the scene regarding issues that are relevant to the development of this policy framework. CAN Europe is concerned that it does not make a strong case for binding targets for renewable energy and energy savings that have been identified as no-regret options towards a low carbon economy.

The paper implies that any decision about setting an energy savings target needs to take into account the review of the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) in 2014, which will assess the progress of the EU towards reaching its 2020 energy savings target. Separating energy efficiency from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction and renewables could mean following an approach that has been proven to be ineffective for ensuring coherence between the different elements of the climate and energy framework. The 20% EU energy savings target for 2020 - adopted separately from the 2020 targets for GHG emissions reductions and renewables - ended up being the only non-binding target, and the only one at risk of not being met.

Achieving Europe's decarbonisation goals requires a significant reduction in energy use, and this needs to be incorporated in to any plan for the transformation of the energy system from the beginning. The 2014 review of the EED is meant to establish whether further measures will be needed to reach the EU 2020 energy savings target, and any discussions on a post 2020 policy framework should be based on the EU commitment to achieve the 20% energy savings target by 2020. The review in 2014 will show whether Member States will need to step up their efforts to achieve the required savings, it cannot dictate what the future target will be. The target for 2030 should be developed in correlation with greenhouse gas emission reduction and renewable energy targets, and the level of ambition should be based on the cost-effective potentials of energy savings.

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22 April 2013

Joint letter to Energy and Environment Ministers calls for action

Climate Action Network Europe, the Coalition for Energy Savings and the European Renewable Energy Council joined together to call on Environment and Energy Ministers to support mutually reinforcing and binding energy savings, renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030. It is the first time the three organisations, representing the key stakeholders for the three respective targets, joined forces.

Ministers will discuss the issue of targets and competitiveness at a joint lunch in Dublin next Tuesday.

You can access the full letter here.