Policy makers and engineers may work towards the same energy efficiency goals, but they don’t always speak the same language. Last January, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Group of Experts on Energy Efficiency brought together both of these key stakeholders at a workshop designed to let policy makers hear from the people who are responsible for implementing energy efficiency projects within their companies.
The workshop, entitled Policy Maker Meets the Engineer, took place 18 January in Geneva, Switzerland and drew 60 business leaders, government officials, academics, and representatives of civil society and international organisations. After a day of presentations and discussions, the participants concluded that the most critcial obstacles to improvements in industrial energy efficiency had to do with a widespread lack of awareness. This lack, which stems from the communication gap between policy makers and energy managers, makes it difficult, if not impossible, to identify and assess energy efficiency projects and to provide adequate price signals on energy markets.
As a step towards closing this gap, a second workshop, entitled Creating the Business Case for Energy Efficiency: Engaging Governments with Industry, is planned for 13 June 2017 as part of the Eighth International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development in Astana, Kazakhstan. Workshop materials and presentations are available here.