Energy Efficiency Policies around the World: Review and Evaluation

4 Conclusions and Recommendations

Various reasons justify the introduction of energy efficiency policies. On the short term, macro-economic constraints brought about by the high oil prices are often the main drivers with their impacts on the deficit of the balance of trade, on consumers welfare (reduction of purchasing power) and on the competitiveness of industrial companies, and, when prices are subsidised, on the public budget and profitability of energy utilities; in developing countries, shortage of capital for public investments is an additional incentive. Long-term issues such as global warming, but also the looming depletion of oil and gas resources and the consequences for the energy security are also important drivers.

The WEC's Energy Efficiency project aims to facilitate the exchange of information and share experiences on energy efficiency measures among countries around the world. This can help government decision makers, industry leaders and analysts select appropriate and cost effective sets of measures for each sector, taking into account their national circumstances. Decisions tools such as energy efficiency/CO2 indicators are useful to monitor trends in energy use and CO2 emissions and to contribute to evaluate and understand the impact of the measures implemented in each sector.

4.1 Energy Efficiency and CO2 Trends

4.2 Evaluation of Energy Efficiency Policies and Measures