Clean Energy Transitions Programme 2019

• 41%: Proportion of global CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion emitted by CETP priority countries
• 36 exchanges with ministers and high-level officials
• 96 technical exchanges in CETP priority countries
• 15 capacity-building events
• 1 709 participants trained
• 41 reports produced or enhanced
• 7.2: CETP 2019 budget (in EUR millions)*

*These figures are estimated projections and are provided for information purposes only. Formal financial reports will continue to be provided in established and agreed formats to member countries via the Committee on Budget and Expenditure and to individual donors via financial reports.

The first two years of the Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP) have enabled the IEA to serve its mission more effectively than ever – working with major emerging economies to tackle their greatest obstacles to a clean energy future. 2019 saw us intensify our activities across our priority countries and regions, and in each of our six work streams (including the creation of a seventh).

As a result of the CETP’s activities during the year, we held 36 in-person discussions with government ministers and high-level officials on important energy topics. This enables us to influence the direction and speed of energy transitions in the most significant emerging economies.

As most clean energy transitions require harnessing a mix of already available technologies, we recognise that it is essential to share our knowledge and expertise as widely as possible. In 2019 we held 15 capacity-building events across the world, through projects co‑ordinated by the CETP and led by IEA teams. Our combination of events and online resources trained over 1 709 participants in key aspects of successful energy transitions.

We cannot be successful unless we listen to and learn from our partner countries. To ensure creative and successful collaboration, we actively engage in deep and sustained partnerships with representatives from governments, regional bodies and other decision makers. This information enhances IEA reports – 41 published or contributed to in 2019 alone. Moreover, our seven co‑ordinators on the ground in target countries ensure that our engagement is as beneficial as possible to everyone involved.

It is our remit to bridge the gap between policy makers’ ambitions for sustainable energy systems and the current reality. We are doing this by bringing ever closer together the IEA’s world-leading energy experts and key decision-makers in our partner countries. This is how the CETP will continue to drive progress towards a clean energy future.

Our activities with Brazil were broader and deeper than ever in 2019. In particular, work on data and statistics, energy efficiency and energy innovation took off.

Reliable, accurate and timely data are essential to developing meaningful energy policy. The IEA continued working with Brazil to improve and consolidate the country’s energy data and statistics. Working with Brazilian officials, our focus has been to further understand their current data collection and reporting methodologies and support the development of energy efficiency indicators.

2019 was a year of firsts for co‑operation on energy efficiency with Brazil.

Notably, Brazil became the first country in South America to fill out the IEA’s energy efficiency data questionnaire. As a consequence, the IEA included Brazil in the annual energy efficiency statistical report for the first time.

Our sustained work led to us co-authoring an international benchmarking exercise on energy efficiency in Brazil, published in January 2020. We also launched the IEA online course on energy efficiency indicators in Portuguese, enabling it to reach a wider audience in Brazil.

We also deepened our analytical co-operation with Brazil. Under the Energy Big Push project, we worked with the country to improve public R&D spending data collection and map the country’s energy innovation landscape, to stimulate innovation activities and investment in low-carbon energy sources.

As well as spending time on the ground in Brazil, we also welcomed representatives from a range of Brazilian institutions to events at the IEA in Paris, including the annual energy efficiency policy training week and the workshop on benchmarking energy efficiency indicators.

Engagement with India under the CETP was strengthened in 2019 across all six work streams. A highlight of the 2019 activities was the IEA in-depth review of India’s energy policies, entitled India 2020 Energy Policy Review, which highlights their achievements and provides concrete recommendations for the clean energy transition. The report highlights the high priority of continuing work to ensure India’s energy security, given the country’s demand for energy is set to double by 2040 and electricity demand may triple.

In 2019 the energy innovation sector was one of our focal points in India. As part of our in-depth review process, we examined India’s energy innovation landscape and formulated policy recommendations which we presented to the Indian government.

Some of our recommendations, such as enhancing institutional co‑ordination between innovation stakeholders, align well with recent policy discussions and activities in India: the government recently proposed setting up a National Research Foundation, which would pool the country’s R&D resources to ensure effective collaboration across all ministries.

In November we published our discussion paper “Accelerating Innovation beyond 2020 – Focus on India”, which builds on our extensive collaboration and exchanges with Indian officials throughout the year, as well as findings from the India 2020 Energy Policy Review.

The paper draws on recent analysis of the clean energy innovation landscape in India for insights into how to successfully engage with other emerging economies. It provides an overview of the IEA’s work on innovation as part of the clean energy transition, drawing from India’s experiences and success stories to suggest ways forward for policy and decision makers.

2019 was a highly successful year for the IEA’s engagement with ASEAN, which collectively constitutes the fourth largest economy in the world.

At the ASEAN Minister of Energy Meeting (AMEM) in Singapore in 2018, ministers called for “stronger institutional ties between the IEA and ASEAN” and set out an ambitious joint programme of work to be delivered in 2019 covering regional power trade, cooling efficiency and renewables integration, to support Thailand’s 2019 ASEAN chairmanship (Thailand is one of eight IEA association countries).

This extensive body of work was delivered by the IEA Executive Director to ASEAN ministers at the AMEM in September 2019 in Bangkok, where ministers designated the IEA as a “strategic partner to ASEAN”. Key recommendations made by the IEA were adopted as regional plans, particularly relating to power trade, and ministers called for additional support from the IEA in the areas mentioned above in 2020 to support Viet Nam’s chairmanship.

Through in-depth analysis and participation in IEA-led and ASEAN forums, we provided the following:

• An assessment of current cooling-related energy demand in ASEAN, and the definition of a pathway to more sustainable cooling based on no-cost policy interventions, as set out in the report The Future of Cooling in Southeast Asia.
• Analysis of the potential for ASEAN renewables integration, based on assessment of the capacity of regional power system integration to accommodate a growing share of variable renewables.
• A comprehensive report on establishing multilateral power trade in ASEAN, setting out clear guidelines on how this might be pursued and the building blocks required to achieve it.

In addition, the IEA published the biennial Southeast Asia Energy Outlook in October 2019, which was also presented to ASEAN ministers of energy. The outlook provides a comprehensive picture of Southeast Asia’s energy future, featuring reports on cooling, power trade and investment.

Our partner countries have much to gain from sharing their experiences with one another, in addition to engaging directly with the IEA. Demonstrating this, in 2019 we brought Chinese and Indian officials together to discuss policy on space cooling.

The focus of this initiative was the international workshop on Energy Efficient Cooling in New Delhi, where we facilitated the participation of representatives from various Chinese expert institutions. The workshop was jointly organised by the IEA, the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency and the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial.

Delegates shared updates on progress with cooling action plans, new policies and research, and discussed the steps needed to accelerate more efficient space cooling and cold chains.

Officials from China and India also shared policy experience on cooling at IEA Energy Efficiency Policy in Emerging Economies Training Weeks.

This exchange of experience has been particularly valuable for developing and implementing national cooling action plans.

The first two years of the Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP) have enabled the IEA to serve its mission more effectively than ever – working with major emerging economies to tackle their greatest obstacles to a clean energy future. 2019 saw us intensify our activities across our priority countries and regions, and in each of our six work streams (including the creation of a seventh).

In 2019 the IEA delivered training to 1 709 people through CETP-related activities. Training is central to the programme, transferring state-of-the-art knowledge and techniques so that priority countries have the practical means to implement energy transitions.

Among the many training events, the IEA held its first ever training week on energy efficiency policy in sub-Saharan Africa in Pretoria, South Africa. Our course brought together about 150 policy makers from 33 countries to equip them with the knowledge and skills to deliver effective energy efficiency initiatives in their respective countries. The next training week is expected to take place in Viet Nam in 2020, as part of their role as 2020 ASEAN Chair.

We also organised four webinars to assist South Africa in the development of its new energy performance certificate programme. In each of the webinars, delegates from four IEA member countries – Australia, Estonia, Portugal and Spain – presented their experiences and shared best practice examples. This proved to be very successful as a knowledge-sharing exercise.

In Latin America the IEA continued work to reach policy makers and statisticians by producing ten statistics videos in Spanish, which provide in-depth knowledge on energy statistics. This activity encourages countries in the region to improve their methodologies, in turn enhancing global energy statistics.

With the significant contribution of the IEA’s energy efficiency contractor in Mexico, we developed a massive open online course (MOOC) on Energy Efficiency in Buildings in 2019 together with CAF. The 40-hour course is dedicated to training students and professionals in the efficiency and sustainability of buildings. Launched in English, the course is due to be launched in Spanish and Portuguese in 2020.

Finally, the IEA also partnered with the ASEAN Centre for Energy in 2019 to develop the ASEAN–IEA Webinar Series. The webinars focus on the multiple benefits that energy efficiency can deliver to households, businesses and to the energy system as a whole.

The CETP is supported by 13 IEA member governments and other partners: the United Kingdom (GBP 9 million; ~EUR 10 million); Italy (EUR 6.5 million plus a secondment to the IEA); Sweden (SEK 50 million; ~EUR 5.2 million); the European Commission (EUR 3.5 million); Denmark (DKK 25 million; ~EUR 3.4 million up to 2020); the Netherlands (EUR 2.6 million); the Agence Française de Développement (EUR 1.4 million); Germany (EUR 1.38 million); Switzerland (CHF 1 million; ~EUR 850 000); Canada (CAD 1.219 million; ~EUR 820 000); Japan (EUR 480 000 in 2018); Finland (EUR 45 000); New Zealand (EUR 10 000); and Australia.

Through the CETP, the IEA has been able to help key governments around the world advance towards their clean energy goals, thus creating benefits for all. The IEA family as a whole has benefited from:

• Improved global data and statistics.
• The IEA’s strengthened role as a global hub on a full range of clean energy technologies.
• Deepened relationships between an array of influential partners.
• The greater sharing of lessons from around the world.