18 November 2014: The Group of Experts on Energy Efficiency, a body established by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Committee on Sustainable Energy, met for its first session in conjunction with UNECE Sustainable Energy Week. At the meeting, which was attended by over 60 experts from UNECE member States, a number of conclusions and recommendations were approved, including the Group’s Work Plan for 2014-2015.

The meeting, which was held from 17-18 November 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland, featured discussions, supplemented by presentations from a number of experts, on: effective and economic energy efficiency improvement measures; cooperation with various partners on energy efficiency accelerators; and the development of energy efficiency standards in cooperation with the International Organization of Standardization (ISO) and other organizations.

On efficiency improvement measures, the Group of Experts invited the Secretariat to develop a “menu of high impact and easy to apply short- and long-term measures” based on those already identified by such partners as the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency (C2E2), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UNFCCC secretariat and the International Energy Agency (IEA). The menu would allow decision makers to quickly identify appropriate measures as they formulate energy efficiency action plans.

During the meeting, the Group of Experts also discussed the energy efficiency aspects of the Joint Statement of the Executive Secretaries of the UN Regional Commissions at the Fifth International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development. The Statement is under consideration by the Committee on Sustainable Energy for endorsement.

The Group of Experts tentatively set its second meeting for 5-6 November 2015. [IISD RS Sources] [UNECE Sustainable Energy Week Webpage] [First Session of the Group of Experts on Energy Efficiency]