Improvements in energy efficiency are one of the three key targets of the EU climate and energy policy. To deliver the European Green Deal, and a climate neutral Europe by 2050, a balanced, realistic, and prudent pathway to climate neutrality by 2050 must be taken. The impact assessment accompanying the Communication on stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition (COM(2020) 562 final) has shown that apart from a more ambitious emissions reduction target of 55% by 2030, energy efficiency improvements will need to be significantly stepped up to around 36-37% savings and 39-41% in terms of reduced final and primary energy consumption respectively by 2030.
The energy efficiency investment needs inferred from the “pre-European Green Deal” NECPs have been quantified as circa EUR 62.6bn per year over the 2021 – 2030 period. However, as the European Commission calculates (SWD(2020) 98 final), for the EU as a whole, the overall transformation investment gap for both public and private investments in the construction sector (i.e. residential and business energy efficiency) is estimated a much higher EUR 180bn per year. Whereas these figures were estimated on the basis of the current EU targets, it is expected the investment needs to be higher still with the newly proposed more ambitious strategy in the framework of the Fit for 55 package. Recent estimates (COM(2020) 662 final) show that in order to achieve the proposed 55% climate target by 2030, around EUR 275 billion of additional investments are needed per year.
To achieve these objectives and to close this investment gap, in line with regulatory measures, it is essential to make the best possible use of available public funds, stimulate and mobilise additional private investments at a significantly more relevant scale and to explore innovative financing practices.
Given these considerable challenges, it is of the utmost importance to regularly measure and forecast the investment and financing levels and benchmark these against given targets. These, and possible additional actions to be considered, must be informed by hard and reliable data across EU Member States and the targeted economic sectors over time and based on appropriate market-based and implementable practices.
In particular, the SR-15 Working Group on collecting and monitoring of data on energy efficiency investments and financing will
- identify the relevant datasets to monitor energy efficiency investments and financing across EU member states and targeted economic sectors (buildings2, SMEs, industry); and
- advise on the best method to capture, process, and organize data on energy efficiency investments and financing over time and across EU member states and targeted economic sectors.
Timeline of WG activities
- September 9, 2021Release Inception Report
- November 16, 20211st full WG meeting with EC
- January 9, 2022Release 1st Interim Report to EC
- January 25, 20222nd full meeting with EC
- March 15, 2022WG member meeting
- April 25, 2022WG member meeting
- June 9, 2022Release 2nd Interim Report to EC
- June 29, 20223rd full WG meeting with EC
- September 15, 2022WG member meeting
- November 9, 2022Release Draft Final Report
- November 29, 2022Final full WG meeting with EC
- January 9, 2023Release Final Report
Emerging results
At the submission of its second interim report, the EEFIG working group collecting and monitoring data on energy efficiency investments and financing across EU Member States and targeted economic sectors finds itself on-track, and yet still grappling with an imperfect and complex environment. The Working Group has 23 members from 18 institutions and counts on an additional 41 observers.
Having passed the midpoint of its work, the working group has identified most of the EU data sources which provide either insights into energy efficiency or investment data in the target sectors (Buildings, Industry and SMEs). It has also identified a 12-point set of principles used by The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS - paper number 239) for the sound aggregation of risk data in banks. While BCBS 239 was introduced after the financial crisis in 2009 to deal with severe data-related shortcomings within financial institutions, the WG feels that its frame can be adapted to energy efficiency investment data challenges and in its interim report provides the Commission a sense of how this might work.
In a huge effort to identify and review against BCBS 239 a significant amount of relevant data sets across on Energy Efficiency data were assessed, the WG believes that there is no single data set that could immediately be adapted for the purpose of measuring energy efficiency investments. However, this second interim report outlines the general framework to use for the final methodology recommendations.
In addition, the WG has identified the appropriate use of modelling, estimation, AI and machine learning to fill the many gaps identified, as well as incoherence between the multiple datasets reviewed with respect of providing a full picture. IEA and EIB methods to develop and backtest different ways to use surveys and experts to hypothecate and bridge data gaps is highly educational and over seven years these distinct and complementary methods have been continuously developed.
WG External Communications
Markus Seifert
WP leader
Markus has more than a decade of experience in management consulting within the financial industry, where he has been working with banks, asset managers, and supervisory authorities.
Markus is Partner at d-fine GmbH, a leading European management consultancy.
Peter Sweatman
WP co-leader
Peter has 30 years' experience in finance, climate finance and providing strategic advice to companies, structuring energy efficiency investments and managing multidisciplinary projects in Europe and the G20, exchanging good practices and capacity building.
Join EEFIG and engage
For more information about the Working Group, please contact cag@viegandmaagoe.dk or rod.janssen@ee-ip.org
If you are interested into joining the EEFIG and engaging in WG activities, please apply for membership in the EEFIG