Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies

Energy efficiency plays a critical role in addressing climate change, energy security and the economic welfare of people. The E4 programme has pioneered the IEA’s work with major emerging economies since 2014, supporting Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa at a country-level and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa at a regional-level. The programme supports exchanges and cross-learning between partner countries and regions, helping countries build, implement and monitor effective energy efficiency.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing effects of the energy and climate crisis, emerging and developing economies will account for an increasing share of global energy demand, with the six E4 countries alone accounting for approximately 40% in 2022 according to IEA analysis.

The IEA's Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies Programme has been supporting countries and regions in the Global South since 2014. By providing capacity building and training, data-driven insights, policy recommendations, and fostering collaboration, the E4 programme aims to unlock the potential of energy efficiency and drive sustainable development for all.

The E4 Programme supports better energy efficiency policies in countries by intervening at different levels:

• Support for policy development: working together with those responsible for the delivery of energy efficiency policies in countries and responding to their needs, the E4 programme has developed a series of policy toolkits to support stronger action on energy efficiency in countries.
• Thematic workshops: bringing together officials and experts from a range of countries to explore specific topics, the programmes helps to ensure emerging economies have access to timely and relevant training opportunities.
• Policy training: Occurring 3 to 4 times a year around the world, the E4 training weeks are unique to the programme, bringing together IEA, country and industry experts to build a community of practice for the next generation of policymakers in emerging economies.
• Webinars: webinars offer a broad audience access to a range of experts on key policy issues or emerging technologies.
• Online training: the E4 programme currently offers six online training courses: Energy Efficiency Indicators: Fundamentals on Statistics and Essentials for Policy Making, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Sustainable Energy Policies for Smart Cities, Singapore-IEA Regional Training Programme on Efficient Grid-Interactive Buildings, Appliance Energy Efficiency Policy. The courses are self-paced.  

The E4 programme drives sustainable change by engaging with policymakers and decision-makers on the multiple benefits of energy efficiency policies. Energy efficiency is a key resource for economic and social development across all economies, offering energy savings, security, health and well-being but also savings for households and public budgets. By engaging with policymakers through a multiple benefits approach, the programme supports both social development and economic growth agendas. 

The first phase of the Energy Efficiency in Emerging Economies programme was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Government of Denmark and the European Commission.

The programme is part of the IEA Clean Energy Trainsitions Programme (CETP), which aims to collaborate with partner governments on all aspects of their clean energy transitions with support from a range of bilateral donors including Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 

Since 2015, the Energy Efficiency Training Weeks, organised by the E4 Programme, have brought together over 1 500 next generation energy efficiency policymakers and practitioners from over 120 countries.

The training weeks, organised 3 times per year, consist of 5 parallel courses on energy efficiency focus areas such as buildings, appliances and equipment, industry, transport and indicators and evaluation. Each course is designed to offer a combination of lectures from industry experts, interactive discussions and practical exercises that allow participants to learn from international best practice and from their peers.

Offering a holistic approach to policy training, the programme also includes a session on assessing potential for energy efficiency, financing, tracking progress and communicating impact. It also places an important emphasis on the multiple benefits of energy efficiency from a social and economic perspective. 

The programme has expanded its training offer to include e-learning courses through the IEA e-learning platform in Energy Efficiency Indicators – Fundamentals on Statistics and Essentials for Policy Making, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Sustainable Energy Policies for Smart Cities, Appliance Energy Efficiency Policy as well as a Singapore-IEA Regional Training Programme on Efficient Grid-Interactive Buildings.  

The E4 programme also hosts a series of webinars in partnership with different experts, countries and organisations in the E4 countries and regions. The webinars cover different topics relevant to the context of emerging economies including multiple benefits, investment, cooling and more.