New Commitments Highlight Progress of Energy Management Campaign at Eighth Clean Energy Ministerial
Partners shared their newest commitments to the Energy Management Campaign with an international assembly of high-level clean energy leaders attending the 8th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8), which took place June 6–8 in Beijing, China. One of the highlights of the three-day event, the Campaign aims, by 2020, to achieve 50,001 global certifications to ISO 50001, the global energy management system standard. During related CEM8 events, governments, global business leaders, and other key partners outlined concrete actions they will take to promote ISO 50001 and make progress towards climate and energy goals.
Bolstering wide-scale energy management is part of the CEM strategy to facilitate the transition to a global clean energy economy. The ISO 50001 standard provides a consistent and measurable way, across countries, for organizations to increase energy productivity and reduce carbon emissions. Analysis shows that broad implementation of ISO 50001 across commercial and industrial sectors globally could drive cumulative energy savings of approximately 62 exajoules by 2030, saving over $600 billion in energy costs and avoiding 6,500 Mt of CO2 emissions. The projected annual emissions savings in the year 2030 are equivalent to removing 215 million passenger vehicles from the road.
At CEM8, leaders from Canada and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) shared the newest commitments to the Energy Management Campaign on behalf of the 17 economies, 8 companies, and 4 supporting international organization that are partners of the effort. Full details on partner commitments at CEM8 are available below and at www.DriveTo50001.org.
In one highlight, UNIDO shared news of a new multi-million dollar program in partnership with the Global Environment Facility to advance ISO 50001 deployment in developing economies through the Sustainable Energy for All – Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator platform. UNIDO and Carbon Trust, also a Campaign partner, serve as co-chairs of the SE4ALL effort.
“UNIDO reaffirms its commitment to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development, working with governments around the world to adopt energy management policies, and supporting energy management system implementation in enterprises of all sizes to improve their energy performance, productivity and sustainability,” said UNIDO Director General Li Yong.
Canada announced that several new government programs will be launched to support industry efforts to implement the ISO 50001 standard. Canada doubled the number of national ISO 50001 certifications last year. The new programs are expected to capitalize on that growing momentum and increase energy and costs savings across the economy thanks to greater energy management through ISO 50001.
In addition, Canada announced a new partnership with UNIDO to accelerate the clean energy transformation through international cooperation on ISO 50001.
“Canada has agreed to lead the Energy Management Working Group, in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, to accelerate the adoption of energy management systems such as ISO 50001,” said Jim Carr, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources. “We look forward to working with UNIDO and the 16 other working group countries to promote energy management, improve the energy efficiency of companies, make them more globally competitive and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
Announcements by international organizations and governments were amplified by commitments from private sector leaders. Companies such as PG&E, Arabian Cement and Google are joining the Campaign to promote ISO 50001 as part of their corporate sustainability strategies.
“We care deeply about environmental sustainability—it permeates everything we do,” said Jim Miller, Google’s Vice President of Operations. “Today, we are proud to announce that Google will continue to expand our sustainability investments by joining the Energy Management Campaign with a commitment to support our supply chain partners in adopting best practice energy management systems such as ISO 50001.”
With more than 50,000 employees in 50 countries, Google makes hundreds of products, such as YouTube, Android and Google Search, used by billions of people around the globe.
The private sector is already seeing the benefits of adopting ISO 50001. Since the standard’s publication in 2011, approximately 18,000 facilities worldwide have been certified to ISO 50001. Case studies show that these companies are realizing energy improvements of 10% or more, often through low-cost or no-cost changes to operations.
The Campaign, which was launched in June 2016 at CEM7, is run by the CEM’s Energy Management Working Group (EMWG), the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation, and the G20, which has been driving the global dialogue on ISO 50001 since 2010.
New Partner Commitments to Energy Management Campaign
Governments
Canada commits to accelerating progress toward the Campaign goal of 50,001 certifications by launching new national programs that will strengthen energy management system implementation in the country, including in the commercial sectors.
Chile commits to continuing programs to support the implementation of energy management systems, as well as the new “Sello de Eficiencia Energetica,” which recognizes companies that are leaders in the implementation of energy management systems on the national level.
China, during its 13th five-year-plan, will strengthen the adoption of energy management systems (EnMS) in key energy-consuming organizations, promote EnMS certification, and energize global collaboration on energy management.
Denmark commits to expanding its work with Mexico, sharing its experience to support Mexico’s efforts to develop a voluntary agreement scheme for companies that implement ISO 50001.
In the autumn of 2017, the European Commission will launch a new initiative to further engage with companies and industrial organisations to promote energy efficiency and understand the barriers that prevent cost-effective investments from happening. In this context, energy management schemes and ISO 50001 will be analysed and discussed to enhance their uptake.
Italy commits to continuing to promote ISO 50001 certification under its current energy audit and management certification programme for large firms. The programme also supports small-to-medium enterprises in performing energy audits and in acquiring energy management certifications and supports the certification of auditors, energy managers, and energy service companies.
The Republic of Korea encourages energy users and suppliers to implement energy management systems. For 2017, the government has committed to provide USD 2.5 million to support energy management systems adoption by the country’s small-to-medium enterprises.
Mexico commits to promoting ISO 50001 certification under its recently initiated Voluntary Agreement Program, which aims at promoting energy management system implementation among the 450 largest energy users.
In early 2017, the United Arab Emirates announced its long-term national energy strategy, which includes a target of 40% reduction in energy consumption, compared to business as usual, by 2050. As part of the second phase of this strategy, the UAE is working on a demand-side management program for industry that will focus mainly on driving the implementation of best practices in energy management, such as ISO 50001.
Companies
Arabian Cement Company commits to 10% energy savings by end-2017 under the management of an ISO 50001 energy management system.
Google, which has seen the benefits of adopting energy efficiency and ISO 50001 in their data centers, is also working with their suppliers on energy efficiency and energy management; Google is formalizing this commitment by joining the Energy Management Campaign.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company – PG&E is moving forward in 2017 with a new strategic energy management program for industrial customers to implement the effective whole facility energy management system and data-driven methodologies of ISO 50001.
Organizations
ClimateWorks Foundation is advancing its commitment to scaling up IS0 50001 and related policies, and will assess the viability and effectiveness of financial incentives to scale the adoption and implementation of ISO 50001 and related energy management systems in China.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) commits USD 2 million to create a global cooperation platform under the Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator to encourage knowledge and best-practice exchange among various players, with the goal of recruiting five developing economy partners in 2017/2018.