Industrial energy efficiency is a climate solution
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Health Plan
Caribbean Life, December 20-26, 2019 11
petitiveness of Brazil’s industrial sector,
which contributes to 20 percent
of the country’s GDP, requires significant
investment into energy efficiency.
UNIDO’s Industrial Energy Accelerator
undertook three energy efficiency workshops
aiming to change perceptions
among investors. Credit: UNIDO
3. Supporting SMEs. Often in emerging
economies, small-to-medium sized
enterprises make up the majority of
the industrial sector. However, many of
these small businesses lack the formal
qualifications and the collateral needed
to access finance and adhere to newly
introduced industrial energy efficiency
regulations.
In Mexico for example, where smallto
medium sized enterprises form the
backbone of the national economy, the
government is working to introduce a
labour competencies standard for internal
energy auditors that responds specifically
to the needs of SMEs.
4. Making the invisible, visible.
Despite offering so many win-win benefits,
industrial energy efficiency is
often referred to as an invisible solution.
Energy efficiency interventions require
changing behaviours and they are often
technical.
Retrofitting the insulation level of
pipes or replacing an old inefficient boiler
is not as appealing as investing into
multimillion-dollar renewable energy
projects panels or as noticeable as saving
forests.
However, government leaders can
help change this by working with industry
to advocate and discuss the potential
of implementing industrial energy efficiency
measures to consumers and other
stakeholders. To facilitate and amplify
this conversation, UNIDO recently
launched a dedicated Industrial Energy
Accelerator website and Linkedin community.
5. Joining forces. We cannot solve
this challenge country-by-country, we
must work together under a coordinated
and ambitious multilateral framework.
At the end of the day we are calling on
competitive multinational companies
to overhaul their production processes,
incentivize their global supply chains
and invest in long-term sustainability
measures.
In order to enable this, countries
must create a level playing field for businesses
to operate within by aligning
national incentives and energy pricing
systems.
Government is absolutely critical to
the energy efficiency transition. Even
with the willpower of the private sector,
without coordinated government incentives,
— such as support for SMEs,
advocacy and effective policy- industrial
energy efficiency will be impossible to
achieve on a large scale.
As we conclude another COP and
move into a new decade with unprecedented
environmental, social and economic
challenges, on behalf of UNIDO
and the Industrial Energy Accelerator,
I urge all governments worldwide to
put industrial energy efficiency back on
the agenda. We have the knowhow, we
have the technology, now is the time for
leadership and effective policy to help us
implement the solutions.
UNIDO’s Industrial Energy Accelerator
works on the ground to rally government,
business and finance around
solutions for industrial energy efficiency.
Next year the programme will enter
phase two of project implementation
in the Accelerator’s first five partner
countries, and we will begin work in
new countries including: Palestine, Sri
Lanka, India, Ukraine and Ghana.
Continued from Page 10
Staff from MCI Santé Animale, one of the 18 companies that have participated
in energy management training organized by UNIDO´s Industrial Energy
Accelerator in partnership with the Moroccan government, at work, as
the country moves to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel imports.
Macarena Aguilar / Small World Stories
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