34 energy
IEA analysis consistently identifies one policy area that stands to contribute the lion ’ s share of cuts to carbon emissions , reductions in local pollution , and costeffective energy security - energy efficiency . Simply put , the cleanest megawatt will be the one we never need , and the most secure barrel the one we never burn .
… climate change passed a grim milestone , when carbon concentration in the atmosphere topped 400 parts per million .
In June , the IEA released a World Energy Outlook Special Report , ‘ Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map ’. The report examined four critical steps that can be taken before 2020 , in the absence of implementation of a multilateral agreement on climate change , to keep the world on track to the 2-degree goal . Even if a deal is finally done in Paris , full implementation will take time . These time-critical measures , which incur zero net economic cost and use proven technologies , can help keep the fastclosing door open to that important international goal . Of the four ( which also include limiting the construction of least-efficient coal power plants , minimising methane emissions from upstream oil and gas production , and accelerating the phase out of fossil fuel subsidies ), energy efficiency measures accounted for nearly half of all carbon savings . These and other ‘ stop-gap ’ measures must be considered in the run-up to 2015 , and we encourage G20 leaders to do so .
Sustainability is not only about climate change , however . When it comes to economic questions ( including improving the transparency , stability , and integration of markets ), leaders at the G20 will be acutely aware that policy discussions are taking place within the context of a fundamentally shifting global energy map . The economic rise of emerging markets like China and India have signalled a global economic rebalancing , including within energy markets . IEA analysis shows growing non-OECD energy demand , particularly in China , to continue over time ( despite the recent slow-down among the largest emerging economies ). Meanwhile energy demand in Europe and the US is stagnating or falling . Much of the new oil and gas supply is expected from the Americas , and most of the new demand from Asia and the Middle East .
From changing trade and import patterns , to the global economic outlook , to the possibility of technological game-changers , uncertainty will mark the energy policy landscape in St . Petersburg . That is all the more reason
IEA analysis shows growing non-OECD energy demand , particularly in China , to continue over time
for leaders to work to ensure that policy stability , for example with regard to lowcarbon investments , is a priority at the national and international level .
The G20 meeting in St . Petersburg will not be the last one at which energy issues take a prominent role . The arc of global economic interdependence , and also the trajectory of energy market and technological advances , point to an evermore important role for international energy governance . The IEA continues to provide a major focal point for global cooperation on such issues , and the G20 provides a unique platform for heads of state and government to consider them within the context of broader discussions on the global economy . As the future of that economy wavers , and as systemic shifts spread prosperity more widely , taking a global and cooperative approach to international energy issues will be crucial - with implications for international institutions like the IEA and the G20 itself .