From the President's Desk: COP16 Affirms Energy Efficiency as 'First Solution' for Global Climate Change

Today I write to you from Cancun, where the COP16 negotiations are winding down – or “fizzling out,” depending on your perspective. The expectations for major progress on global climate treaties remain quite low, despite cautious optimism that meaningful commitments will emerge.  In conversation after conversation, event after event, energy efficiency emerged as the premier “first solution” for tackling global climate change.  In Cancun, the Alliance and the army of other energy efficiency advocates worked hard to translate the growing awareness of energy efficiency into concrete agreements.

A personal highlight for me occurred Monday, Dec. 6, when I joined President Felipe Calderón and other Mexican and Canadian officials for a visit to one of Mexico’s new, net-zero energy home projects, a joint collaboration between their governments and Mexican builders and NGOs. I was proud that the Alliance recognized this important work with our prestigious 2010 International Star of Energy Efficiency award to Canada, as well as our 2009 award to Mexico, which was presented personally to President Calderón. We chose our winners well!  Since beginning Green Mortgage (Hipoteca Verde) program in 2009, the Mexican housing authority INFONAVIT has granted 240,000 green mortgages.  At COP16, President Calderon announced that EACH of the anticipated 500,000 mortgages to be made by INFONAVIT in 2011 will meet improved green standards. And, the effort to build net-zero energy homes for all income levels will “step up” in the coming year as well.  It is the hope of the Canadian government that Mexico’s efforts will spawn activity throughout Central and South America, as well as in other parts of the developing world. 

Throughout the course of last week and this week, the Alliance joined fellow advocates to make the strongest possible case for energy efficiency's critical role in a global climate strategy. We partnered with the World Climate Summit to engage the world’s top business leaders in the Cancun dialogue, and I was privileged to moderate a plenary session on energy efficiency’s key role in driving global competitiveness and curbing climate change. Panelists included leaders from several Associate organizations, including Danfoss, Philips Lighting, Johnson Controls and the Dow Chemical Company, who presented can-do ideas for unlocking barriers to the global adoption of energy efficiency.

We brought our message not only to the world’s biggest businesses, but also to emerging economies.  This week, the Alliance partnered with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy on a COP16 side-event on implementing clean energy technology in developing countries. I participated as a panelist, affirming the urgent need to help developing countries deploy energy efficiency technologies. You can view a webcast of this event in the coming days on www.connectsolutions.com/cop16/. 

Finally, last week we co-hosted an event with our sister organization, the European Alliance to Save Energy, on opportunities to advance energy efficiency across the emerging smart grid – from the power plant to beyond the plug.  Thanks go to Associate Johnson Controls for sponsoring this important event, which included many informative presentations. 

Finding consensus around energy efficiency initiatives, policy and funding can and must be a first order of business for policy makers around the world.  We will continue to work at all levels of government, from the international arena to the local municipalities, to advance this important resource.

Best,

Kateri Callahan