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IEA Support to Accelerating Renewable Energy Permitting (ARPE)
Between October 2023 and March 2025, the IEA implemented the “Accelerating Renewable Energy Permitting” (ARPE) action. The goal of ARPE was to support five EU Member states – Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and the Slovak Republic (Focus countries) – in developing and implementing policy and regulatory measures aimed at reaching their renewable energy targets, notably through accelerating permitting of renewable energy projects.In support of this objective, the IEA organised and facilitated five workshops focused on the following topics:streamlining administrative proceduresaccelerating offshore wind deploymentfacilitating spatial planning for renewable energy deploymentensuring public engagement and acceptance, and afinal workshop summarizing the project…
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Gaining an Edge
The Role of Energy Efficiency in Enhancing Competitiveness Energy efficiency delivers more than energy savings and emission reductions – it can also improve the competitiveness of countries and firms. From increased profitability to job creation, energy efficiency helps firms compete amid high costs, growing demand, and rising trade pressures. In today’s global context, energy efficiency is not only a matter of energy policy, but also of economic policy.The report analyses historical progress in industrial energy efficiency and its role in enhancing industrial competitiveness. It includes comparisons of firm-level energy efficiency, identifying performance gaps and opportunities for further improvement. Drawing…
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Jobs
Multiple benefits of Energy Efficiency 2025 Energy efficiency provides multiple benefits. This page explores jobs. Why is energy efficiency important for jobs? Investment in energy efficiency creates jobs in a wide range of occupations and geographic locations. Key facts Around 10 million people work in energy efficiency-related jobs globally, representing nearly 15% of all energy-related jobs. Studies indicate that energy efficiency creates between 4 and 22 jobs per USD 1 million invested, depending on economic structure and energy efficiency measure. By lowering energy spending, energy efficiency also helps foster business growth and competitiveness. Energy efficiency offers a wide array of job opportunities…
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Competitiveness
Multiple benefits of Energy Efficiency 2025 Energy efficiency provides multiple benefits. This page explores competitiveness. Why is energy efficiency important for competitiveness? Increasing energy efficiency can improve competitiveness at both the firm level – by reducing costs, improving operations and increasing product value – and at the country level, by reducing the amount of energy required to produce economic output. Key facts Today the world’s industries produce nearly 20% more value added with a given amount of energy, compared with two decades ago. In the industrial sector, energy management can lead to more than 10% in annual energy cost savings within…
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Scaling Up Transition Finance
Scaling Up
Transition
Finance Actions by emissions-intensive sectors, companies and countries are crucial to placing the world on a sustainable pathway. Yet investments that could deliver meaningful reductions in their environmental footprint often do not receive sufficient financial support. Currently, finance is drawn heavily to certain “green” assets and activities. While vital, these investments alone cannot deliver all the changes needed to cut global emissions, especially in areas where clean technologies are not yet commercially available or cost-competitive. This is where transition finance comes in: it can help emissions-intensive countries, companies and sectors shift over time towards…
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Breakthrough Agenda Report 2026
Strengthening international collaboration to accelerate delivery Breakthrough Agenda Report 2026 Since its launch at COP 26, the Breakthrough Agenda has served as a framework for strengthening international collaboration across major emitting sectors. Participating countries have endorsed shared “Breakthrough” goals to make clean technologies and sustainable practices more affordable, accessible and attractive than their alternatives by 2030 across the power, road transport, hydrogen, steel, cement and buildings sectors.The Breakthrough Agenda establishes an annual cycle to track progress towards these goals, identify where stronger or more co‑ordinated international action is needed, and support collective efforts to accelerate deployment. Central to this process…
- Executive summary
- Hydrogen
- Road transport
- Steel
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+ 3 pages
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What Next for the Global Car Industry
An Energy Technology Perspectives Special Report The global car industry has operated under relatively stable conditions for decades. The world’s largest car manufacturers are based in the European Union, Korea, Japan and the United States, and – more recently – in China, and the car industry is a major contributor to the economy in these countries. The strength of many of these car makers is built on decades at the forefront of technological innovation around the internal combustion engine (ICE), as well as highly integrated and optimised supply chains that allow for vehicles and their components to be produced at low…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies
Evolving institutions, instruments and implications for clean energy transitions Global energy investment exceeded USD 3.3 trillion in 2025, but capital flows remain uneven. Emerging market and developing economies (EMDE) outside China attracted just 27% of total energy investment and 18% of clean energy spending, despite accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global population and the bulk of future demand. Addressing this imbalance requires mobilising more capital from diverse sources into EMDE energy systems.China continues to play a central role in global energy investment flows because of its large domestic investments and its large external capital spending on energy. Since…
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The State of Energy Innovation 2026
The second edition of The State of Energy Innovation turns the spotlight on the technologies, policies and funders at the forefront of energy technology development. It provides a comprehensive assessment of recent progress and emerging challenges in energy technology innovation, drawing on over 150 innovation highlights from 2025 and a survey of practitioners across more than 40 countries. It analyses trends in public and corporate R&D spending, venture capital flows, patenting and policy, as well as providing an update on progress towards the 18 IEA Races to First in energy innovation. This data-driven approach informs policy makers, industry…
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Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency for Business
Energy efficiency is often described as the “first fuel” because the cheapest and most secure energy is the energy that is not used. For businesses, this begins with a straightforward benefit: lower energy bills. In many cases, efficiency investments can pay back quickly through reduced energy costs alone. However, the value of energy efficiency extends beyond energy savings.This report builds on the IEA’s work on the multiple benefits of energy efficiency and focusses on how these gains materialise in businesses. Key benefits range from productivity and product quality improvements to brand image or health benefits for employees and…
