DECC’s work on international low-carbon energy technology focuses on three main objectives:
- mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions, a significant proportion of which will need to be achieved through the deployment of low-carbon technology
- support development of the UK’s low-carbon business sector, where part of the challenge is to support UK companies’ access to the fast-growing international market for low-carbon technology
- promote international energy security, by mitigating global demand for oil and gas and promoting deployment of key technologies that will enable more diverse sources of energy supply
Background to the scale of the challenges we face in in these areas can be found at the International Energy Agency (IEA) website.
DECC addresses these objectives through the a number of workstreams, including:
International energy efficiency
The UK works within the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Co-operation (IPEEC) to create a forum through which developed and key developing countries can work jointly to share experience and learn from each other’s policy successes (and failures). They can also identify opportunities for collaborative work to address issues of mutual interest or concern, where such international action can add value to domestic efforts/expertise.
International renewable energy
The UK is a member of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which is an inter-governmental treaty organisation set up in 2009, now with nearly 150 signatory countries. Its aim is to promote a rapid transition to the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy technologies internationally.
The UK is the main funder of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), which is a multi-stakeholder partnership established at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 with the objective of accelerating the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in developing countries. REEEP has 350 partners, including 45 governments, and achieves this objective by funding targeted capacity building projects, with a particular focus on financing, policy and regulatory barriers.
Clean Energy Ministerial
The UK participates in the Clean Energy Ministerial, which is a US-led, high-level global forum to promote policies and programmes that advance clean energy technology, share lessons learned and best practices, and encourage transition to a global clean energy economy. Initiatives are based on areas of common interest among participating governments and other stakeholders. We will be hosting the 3rd Ministerial in London in spring 2012.
Low carbon growth
Technology is essential to the low carbon future, both in mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. Led through UKTI (BIS), the Government is driving export-led low carbon growth by supporting UK companies’ access to global markets, whilst the Government’s renewable energy programmes, reforms of the electricity market, the Green Investment Bank, funding for CCS demonstrations and other programmes serve to make the UK attractive for global clean energy investment.
CCS is a vital mitigation technology needed to tackle climate change. The IEA CCS Roadmap forecasts that 19% of mitigation in 2050 will need to come from CCS to stay below 450ppm – 9% from CCS in industry and 10% from CCS in power generation. In addition, according to the IEA and Stern Review, the cost of reaching the same aim could be 70% greater if CCS isn’t part of the global solution.
There is a broad international political consensus on the need and importance of CCS in tackling climate, and the focus is now on delivery. The UK is a leading player, largely because of its ambitious domestic CCS programme. The work DECC is doing in delivering a domestic demonstrator programme is of global significance and provides a strong platform for our engagement on CCS in the international arena.
Low-carbon technology transfer to developing countries
DECC supports the establishment of a technology mechanism (TM), as agreed at COP16 in Cancun, to accelerate the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change, and to hasten deployment of low-carbon technologies, supported where necessary by its international climate finance commitments.