8 November 2012: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported on exploratory discussions with a group of companies from the energy and manufacturing sectors on the impact of climate change on energy systems, and announced new initiatives to support energy systems resilience.

“Much has been said about the ways in which our energy system is affecting the climate, yet very little has been said about the opposite: the effects of a changing climate on our energy system,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. She praised the active dialogue that took place with industry as an opportunity to improve future energy systems resilience. In line with this, IEA announced the following new endeavors: additional dialogues with business and governments to share views and experiences; a database of resilience-enhancing policies; improved integration of analyses on climate change’s impact on energy supply and demand in its model-based projections; and the potential establishment of an ad hoc working group on energy system resilience. [IEA Press Release]