EU commissioner: Diversification of gas supplies, energy efficiency enable EU to respond to challenges

Energy efficiency has enormous potential for savings. The main challenges facing Europe and the world as a whole when it comes to energy policy are accessibility and affordability, the climate crisis and energy security, Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jorgensen said at the opening of the 10th IEA Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in Brussels, Report informs.

There are hundreds of millions of people on this planet who don't have access to clean energy, and companies that are struggling to be competitive and grow because their energy bills are too high. At the same time, there is a huge climate crisis, which is unfortunately only getting worse, and of course, in Europe, energy policy is also about security, he noted.

According to Jorgensen, not only in the most vulnerable countries, even in Europe, one in ten Europeans is at risk of energy poverty.

Last winter, 47 million people were unable to heat their homes. Although there is a tendency to focus on introducing more renewables over the years, renewables are cheaper, and it has been calculated that from 2021 to 2023, almost 100 billion euros were saved on energy bills in Europe by introducing new renewables. But in reality, the potential for most households, companies will be even greater if known energy efficiency technologies are introduced. This requires investment, but it pays off quickly, the commissioner said.

Jorgensen also addressed the issue of the climate crisis, which is already bringing its unpleasant results. He noted that the problem is only getting worse.

Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, the commissioner said that the EU is doing everything possible to help the Ukrainian people and government.

Unfortunately, the energy sector has been hit and is a target for Russian attacks. A lot of resources are being spent, but the war is also affecting Europe, he added.

The conference is organized by the International Energy Agency together with the European Commission.