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Prospects for Natural Gas Certification
This report offers an overview of the role of certification in natural gas supply chains, provides a broad mapping of existing initiatives, highlights selected regulatory and market developments, identifies areas where improvements may be needed, and presents recommendations to support the development of credible certification frameworks.Certified natural gas refers to gas whose environmental and social attributes – such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance, water use, local community impacts and worker safety – have been independently verified against defined criteria or benchmarks. In 2024, around 7.5% of global natural gas production was certified, with volumes primarily originating from North America…
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Hydroelectricity
Hydropower is the largest source of renewable energy today, but that could change soon
Hydro is currently the third largest source of power generation worldwide after coal and natural gas. In 2024, it generated around 4 500 terawatt-hours of electricity, or 14% of the global total.
More than 150 gigawatts (GW) of new hydro capacity is set to come online by the end of the decade, mostly in emerging and developing economies. As a result, electricity generation from hydropower is expected to increase by 7% between 2025 and 2030. However, its share in global electricity generation is poised to…
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Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit
The Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit is an interactive online tool that has been updated and expanded ahead of the 11th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in Montreal, Canada. It aims to support governments in designing and implementing effective energy efficiency measures by combining policies across three core pillars: regulation, information and incentives. It also features a wide range of case studies, offering practical insights into the successful implementation of energy efficiency policies across diverse national and sectoral contexts.The Toolkit builds on earlier IEA work to advance energy efficiency policy. In 2022, the IEA introduced Policy Packages for Energy…
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Household Energy Affordability Executive summary
Household energy affordability continues to be a key priority for governments as energy bills remain elevated Household energy bills globally have come down from the peaks seen during the global energy crisis in 2022, but on average they were still around 4% higher in real terms in 2024 than they were in 2019. Household energy bills soared in many parts of the world as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which introduced a period of extreme volatility and a sharp run-up in prices. At the peak of the…
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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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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case 4. TFC Solar PV project in South Africa
Project overview and impact South Africa faces significant challenges regarding electricity reliability. The lack of investment, coupled with increasing demand have led to chronic load shedding, with household and industrial consumers affected. Energy-intensive sectors, such as ferrochrome smelting, face rising operational costs, production losses and growing pressure to reduce emissions in line with national and international climate objectives. To address power shortages, the South African government, since 2023, has allowed independent power producers to build power plants above 100 MW and sell electricity directly to private customers without an issued generation license.The Tubaste Ferrochrome (TFC) solar PV power…
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Southeast Asia Energy Outlook 2026 Executive summary
Southeast Asia is a very dynamic region that is set to be a major driver of global energy demand growth, but the Middle East conflict has provided a stark wake-up call for the region’s energy system. Southeast Asia accounts for 9% of the world’s population and 4% of its GDP, but nearly 20% of global energy demand growth to 2035 under today’s policy settings. The disruption in global fuel markets has exposed deep structural vulnerabilities linked to import dependence, limited diversification and concentrated supply routes. Before the crisis, around 60% of Southeast Asia’s imports of…
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India Bioenergy Market Report Executive summary
Bioenergy is particularly important for India’s rapidly growing energy market. It can strengthen energy security, reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels, create economic development and employment opportunities - especially in rural communities - and contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. These benefits align closely with national energy and climate objectives, enabling India to leverage its domestic resources to support cleaner energy growth. India’s abundant agricultural residues and organic waste provide a strong resource base for modern bioenergy production.India’s ethanol industry has emerged as one of the country’s most successful policy-driven energy stories. Backed by a suite…
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Damilola Ogunbiyi
CEO and Special Representative of the UN SG for SEforALL and Co-Chair of UN-Energy.
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Ensuring a Strong Labour Dimension for Just and Inclusive Energy Transitions
IEA Clean Energy Labour Council Workers play a critical role in the global energy system, providing key services across many areas of the energy sector. To give a greater voice to the labour perspective in energy and climate policy discussions, the IEA Executive Director, Dr. Fatih Birol, convened the Clean Energy Labour Council in 2022. The Labour Council brings together representatives of the world’s most important national trade unions and trade union confederations, as well as prominent thinkers on the topic, to foster engagement between the IEA, energy policy makers, and the labour movement.The IEA Clean Energy Labour…
