(Photo: AFP / Manila Bulletin)
AT A GLANCE
Doubling energy efficiency investments is among the core targets underpinning the COP28 Global Stocktake and this is one major area wherein call for increased global climate financing has been intensifying at the ongoing climate change talks.
Filipino-led firm Climargy, which is classified as a super energy service company or SUPER-ESCO in the energy efficiency investment terrain, is among the corporates globally that made its pledge for a ramp up on energy efficiency ventures and programs as part of the cornerstone agreements being advanced at the ongoing COP28 Climate Change Summit in Dubai.
The pledge of the Philippine company had been amalgamated into the goals of “Mission Efficiency”, which is a global coalition of governments, organizations as well as initiatives to accelerate transition into having energy efficient economies worldwide.
Alexander Ablaza, chief executive officer of Climargy, said “over two-thirds of the energy efficiency capital gap by 2030 will need to flow outside the balance sheets of energy end-users through innovative financial structures and modalities for the world to accelerate energy efficiency technology and capital deployment.”
Doubling energy efficiency investments is among the core targets underpinning the COP28 Global Stocktake and this is one major area wherein call for increased global climate financing has been intensifying at the ongoing climate change talks.
By far, the government leadership in the Philippines – with the Department of Energy (DOE) spearheading actions and programs – has been aggressively promoting and enticing wider base of energy efficiency investments and initiatives in the country.
At COP28, Mission Efficiency announced that it was able to secure “initial series of pledges in support of its ‘Call to Action’ for doubling annual energy efficiency improvement and tripling annual energy efficiency investment.”
The ‘Call to Action’ is an initiative launched by Mission Efficiency prior to COP28; and it is a movement pressing world leaders to recognize and realize the value of energy efficiency ventures and measures in achieving climate targets, primarily the 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature rise limit under the Paris Agreement.
Responding to that call, US firm Metrus Energy announced that it will increase direct investment in energy efficiency to $400 million from previously at $200 million – and that has been fused into the ‘America is All In’, a program which has been cornering support from all 50 states in the US to be part of a solution to the climate crisis.
In particular, the Business Council for Sustainable Energy has committed to advise policymakers in the United States, “on the market, technology and policy issues related to accelerating the scale up of energy efficiency.”
And as the European Union (EU) and the COP28 Presidency in the United Arab Emirates will be launching the Global Pledge on Renewables and Energy Efficiency – mainly the paradigms into tripling renewables capacity and doubling energy efficiency measures by 2030; Mission Efficiency’s Call to Action will be supporting that movement.
“Those joining the Call to Action also affirmed that tripling investment to more than $1.5 trillion per year from 2026 to 2030 is required to meet this target,” Mission Efficiency noted.
The organization emphasized that the first series of pledges had already been unveiled during a roundtable side event at the COP28 hosted by The Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Edison Electric Institute, Mission Efficiency, and Sustainable Energy for All.
Written/posted by Myrna M. Velasco (Manila Bulletin), 9 December 2023, 1:49 PM
https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/8/ph-firm-advances-pledge-to-global-energy-efficiency-ramp-up-call-at-cop-28
