International Partnership For Energy Efficiency Cooperation - History

History

At the Gleneagles (2005) and the St.Petersburg (2006) Summits, the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries emphasized the need for global cooperation in the field of 33rd G8 summit at Heiligendamm in June 2007, the G8 approved an EU proposal for an international initiative on energy efficiency and decided to explore the most efficient way to promote energy efficiency worldwide, jointly with the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Since its creation by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1974, the IEA has promoted energy efficiency. However its members are all developed countries. The growing economic interdependence amongst nations, the increasingly globalized energy market and the environmental issues affecting every country make the idea of a worldwide forum particularly relevant. IPEEC provides exactly such a forum that opens up a dialogue on energy, economic and environment issues between developed and developing nations as well as the private sector.

One year after the Heiligendamm Summit, on 8 June 2008, in Aomori, at the Energy Ministerial meeting hosted by Japan during its G8 Presidency, the energy ministers from the G8 and from China, India, South Korea and the European Community agreed to establish the IPEEC. In the Aomori Declaration, signed on June 8, 2008, the energy ministers acknowledged that "all countries, both developed and developing, share common interests for improving their energy efficiency performance", and that "developed countries need to play an important role in cooperation with developing countries, accelerating dissemination and transfer of best practices and efficient technologies".

On May 24, 2009 in Rome, the G8 members, China, South Korea, Brazil and Mexico signed the Terms of Reference of the IPEEC. This group signature officially created the IPEEC. The same day, the representatives of these countries also signed the Memorandum' asking the IEA to host the IPEEC Secretariat.

The 9th meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministers in Japan in 2010 resulted in the Fukui Declaration that supported IPEEC’s goal by stating that "improving energy efficiency is one of the quickest, greenest and most cost-effective ways to address energy security, economic growth and climate change challenges at the same time".