the Global ESCO Network has taken the stage promoting Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) ability to carry out profitable investments on energy efficiency delivering on the urgently needed emissions reductions to achievements Net Zero targets.
With two events during the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 7th Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in Sønderborg, Denmark this week, the network gathered ESCO’s and energy efficiency experts.
The Global Conference on Energy Efficiency gathered high-level participants from all over the world, promoting efficiency as the first fuel – which can simultaneously address the economic crisis, energy crisis & climate crisis.
First meeting of the Global ESCO Network
The partners of the Global ESCO Network represented by UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Efficiency Evaluation Organization (EVO) and national ESCO associations from around the world met for the first ever gathering of the Global ESCO Network to discuss recent achievements, create new strategic partnerships and plan for future activities to promote the ESCO model, and enhance the uptake of energy efficiency measures.
During the conference IEA and the Global ESCO Network co-organized the event ‘Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) for Net Zero’.
The event brought together leading experts from across the world highlighting impactful ESCO models and their success factors, exploring actions needed to overcome persistent challenges and defining key recommendations for policymakers on how to unleash private investments on Energy Efficiency through ESCO models, assisting countries and companies in achieving Net Zero targets.
Paving the way for future ESCO action
By directly using energy savings to pay for the cost of equipment and infrastructure that creates those savings, ESCOs deploy a business model directly responding to the challenge of climate change, while defying the mantra that emissions reductions comes at a cost that many, particularly in developing countries, are unable to carry.
During the IEA conference, the Global ESCO Network members agreed on several steps to push and promote ESCO business models and increase global mitigation efforts:
- Development of a common standard definition for ESCO and supportive regulatory standards in collaboration with national ESCO associations.
- Assist additional countries in establishing an ESCO association in their jurisdictions
- Source funding for technical assistance to support ESCO associations and countries with regulatory framework inducive to support ESCO Markets.
A global driver for ESCO climate action
The Global ESCO Network was established to become the global driver and inspire government actions for scaling up the contribution of ESCOs to the global response for mitigating the threat of climate change and to reach the goals set out by the Paris Agreement.
This is done by adding to and reinforcing existing efforts of national and regional ESCO associations to promote increased activities by the ESCO sector at a global scale.