by Rebecca Walker — May 29, 2009—U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu met with energy leaders from around the world recently to launch the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC), a high-level forum for facilitating improvements in global energy efficiency and encouraging market implementation of energy efficiency technologies.
By promoting the exchange of information, best practices, policies and measures that support energy efficiency efforts, this partnership will offer opportunities for the participating countries to create green jobs domestically while helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
The signatories included the entire Group of 8 (G8), which consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as key emerging economies, including Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and the Republic of Korea. The International Energy Agency will host the IPEEC Secretariat in Paris, France.
The IPEEC partners agreed on an initial set of tasks for the draft work plan, which included the establishment of a Sustainable Buildings Network that will promote efficiency in residential, commercial and industrial buildings; a compilation and summary of national energy efficiency action plans; an inventory and review of international energy efficiency initiatives; and improved methods for measuring and verifying progress toward domestic energy efficiency goals.
For more information, see the Web site for the G8 Energy Ministers Meeting.
