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The Value of Demand Flexibility
Benefits beyond balancing This policy brief, developed under the International Energy Agency’s Digital Demand-Driven Electricity Networks (3DEN) Initiative, examines the value of demand flexibility as a core component of modern electricity systems, with a strong emphasis on its role in improving energy efficiency. As electricity demand grows and power systems become more electrified, decentralised and renewable-rich, managing when and how electricity is used is increasingly as important as expanding supply.The brief sets out a clear framework for understanding demand flexibility and highlights its contribution to an efficiency-first approach to power system planning and operation. By…
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Renewables 2021 Renewable electricity
Forecast summary Renewable capacity additions are set to grow faster than ever in the next five years, but the expansion trend is not on track to meet the IEA Net Zero by 2050 Scenario Annual additions to global renewable electricity capacity are expected to average around 305 GW per year between 2021 and 2026 in the IEA main case forecast. This implies an acceleration of almost 60% compared to renewables’ expansion over the last five years. Continuous policy support in more than 130 countries, ambitious net zero goals announced by nations accounting for almost 90% of global GDP, and improving competitiveness…
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State of Energy Policy 2026 Energy efficiency and fuel switching regulations
More than 130 countries have energy efficiency or fuel switching regulations in place, but some were revised, delayed or withdrawn in 2025 Energy use has become more efficient around the world since 2000. Global energy intensity has improved by around 30% over the past 25 years, meaning the world uses about 30% less energy per unit of economic output today than it did in 2000, with differentiated trends by key end uses: passenger cars and air conditioners have notably seen efficiency improvements for new sales of 30% and 45%, respectively since 2005. However, the pace of improvement has slowed over…
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Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa Clean cooking: State of play and recent progress
Nearing a turning point? A lack of clean cooking continues to have profound impacts on public health, women’s equality, economic development, and the environment. Globally, a lack of clean cooking contributes to around 3 million premature deaths each year, with women and children facing the greatest exposure, and accounts for annual emissions equivalent to 1.2 Gt CO2-eq, roughly equivalent to the global CO2 emissions from international aviation and shipping. The challenge is most severe in sub-Saharan Africa, where four out of five households lack clean cooking access today. To spur global action on the issue, the…
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Sustainable Transport for Georgia: A Roadmap
The International Energy Agency (IEA) developed this Sustainable Transport Policy for Georgia roadmap under the European Union-funded five-year EU4Energy programme, which supports evidence-based energy policy and data capabilities in Eastern Partnership countries, including Georgia.The roadmap supports sustainable transport planning at national and city levels, summarising legislation, planning documents, and research on passenger and freight transport. Key metrics include accessibility, safety, convenience, equity, energy efficiency, emissions reduction, congestion and service reliability. Policies and targets are proposed to help Georgia meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) pledges.The government of…
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Energy and AI AI and climate change
The emergence of AI has both raised concerns that AI-fuelled data centre growth might fuel climate change and also raised expectations that AI applications in the energy sector could help reduce emissions by unlocking new optimisations and efficiencies. As over 100 countries – and the European Union – have targets to reach net zero emissions between 2030 and 2070, it is pertinent to explore what AI’s impact on emissions could potentially be. Global fuel combustion CO2 emissions are estimated to reach 35 000 million tonnes (Mt) in 2024. Data centres account for around 180 Mt of indirect CO2 emissions today from the consumption…
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Wind
Wind
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Global Energy and Climate Model Policies
Policies database Underpinning the scenario analysis of the GEC Model, an extensive effort is made to update and expand the list of energy and climate-related policies and measures that feed into our modelling. Assumptions about government policies are critical to this analysis and are the main reason for the differences in outcomes across the scenarios. A summary of some of the key policy targets and measures for different sectors by selected countries and regions can be found in the Annex B of WEO-2025.Although all care has been taken to ensure accuracy, completeness and clarity of content in…
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Oil Market Report - December 2025
The IEA Oil Market Report (OMR) is one of the world's most authoritative and timely sources of data, forecasts and analysis on the global oil market – including detailed statistics and commentary on oil supply, demand, inventories, prices and refining activity, as well as oil trade for IEA and selected non-IEA countries. Highlights Global oil demand is set to rise by 830 kb/d in 2025 amid an improving macroeconomic and trade outlook. These brighter prospects extend to our 2026 forecast, which we have upgraded by 90 kb/d, to 860 kb/d y-o-y. Gasoil and jet…
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COP28 Tripling Renewable Capacity Pledge 2025: Update Key Findings
New Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) show limited reflection of the pledge to triple global renewable capacity by 2030 agreed at COP28 Between COP28 and the end of COP30, only about two-thirds of NDCs have been updated (128) and fewer than half of these (53) explicitly reference the global tripling goal. Even fewer (32) contain quantifiable renewable capacity ambitions for 2030. NDCs continue to under-represent current government ambitions for installed renewable capacity by 2030 The NDC 3.0 round does not fully capture countries’ 2030 renewable capacity ambitions in all submitted NDCs. Including 2030 ambitions from previous NDC cycles, total…
