CEM8 Round-Table summary report
CEM8 – Round-table Summary report
The eighth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8) featured four clean energy roundtables on the following topics:
- Digitalization of the Energy Sector to Enhance Energy Productivity & Renewable Integration. Internet-connected appliances and equipment (networked devices) offer the opportunity for a step change in the way that energy is used in all sectors. However, the path forward is not currently well understood and faces many challenges, including the need for interoperability, network security, privacy concerns, and energy costs associated with connecting devices to the Internet. This roundtable explored the role of networked devices in the energy system, the wider implications of increasing digitalization in the energy sector, and possible joint industry–government initiatives to address these emerging issues.
- Optimising the Impact of Our Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Policies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that energy efficiency and renewable energy will deliver more than two-thirds of the emissions reductions needed to reach our climate targets. They are also central to many wider energy goals, including security of supply, competitiveness, and access. To date, energy efficiency and renewable energy policies have often been developed and implemented in parallel, driving the development of separate energy efficiency and renewable energy services models that sometimes work against each other or deliver suboptimal outcomes. This roundtable explored different decision making and policy making processes that can encourage more integrated policy, innovation, and investment.
- EV Deployment Policies for the Next Decade: From the Second Million to Mass Market Adoption. After approximately five years of broad commercial availability, the one millionth consumer electric vehicle (EV) was sold in 2015. During this period, a variety of policies were enacted to encourage electric-drive technologies, including financial incentives, deployment and adoption targets, and government R&D. However, EVs still make up less than 1% of passenger car sales worldwide. Robust and innovative second-generation EV adoption policies are critical for accelerating EV adoption and for countries to meet their economic and climate goals for the transport sector. This roundtable looked at trends and market developments for policy makers to consider when designing policies for mass market adoption and discussed actions needed from governments, industry, and civil society during this second phase of EV deployment.
- Leveraging City-Scale Building Efficiency Action. Buildings are responsible for consuming nearly a third of the world’s energy and for a corresponding 20% of greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, global building energy demand can be reduced by at least one-third if known energy efficiency best practices are implemented on a large scale. Improvements to building efficiency in the urban environment can provide multiple benefits at both city and national levels, including improving air quality, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing the need for capital investment in new power plants to meet growing energy demand. These improvements could be facilitated by linking local and national strategies and involving those who design, build, own, and operate building stock. This roundtable highlighted how national governments can help engage cities and business to work together to increase the efficiency of building stock, the opportunities for vertical alignment at different levels of government, and ways to accelerate key national policy levers.