Enabling Policies for Financing Energy Efficiency Investments

On 14-15 April 2014, the Tunisian capital hosted a regional policy seminar organized by Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in collaboration with the Tunisian Agency for Energy Conservation (ANME), the Energy Department of the League of Arab States (ED LAS), and the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE), on policy reforms to promote financing of energy efficiency (EE) investments with the aim of strengthening the capacity of national and local policymakers in the region. The seminar was held at the Hotel Ramada, Gammarth, and attracted the participation of representatives from the public and private sectors in the ESCWA member countries as well as from concerned regional and international organizations. The objective of the regional seminar was to focus on policy reforms that could promote financing of energy efficiency investments with the aim of strengthening the capacity of national and local policymakers in the region. The participants in the seminar considered case studies for three countries from the Arab region to develop a better understanding of their positioning in the international investment market for energy efficiency projects. The Tunisian Agency for Energy Conservation (ANME) presented the Tunisian experience in setting up a favourable institutional and policy framework and they identified desirable changes to existing policy, legal and regulatory frameworks leading to a more favourable investment climate for EE projects. The Seminar included a presentation of three case studies conducted by ESCWA in three countries to develop a better understanding of their positioning in the international investment market for energy efficiency projects, namely: Egypt (Transport Sector), Kuwait (Building Sector) and Tunisia (Industry Sector). The Seminar also focused on updating of recent work developments in the Arab Region related to EE, including the design and implementation of national EE plans, the latest and most important outcomes of studies conducted by the RCREEE in this regard, which include the latest analysis of EE indicators, and on the identification of required or desirable changes to existing policy, legal and regulatory frameworks leading to a more favourable investment climate for the EE projects. The Beirut-based Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is one of the five UN regional commissions. It provides a framework for the formulation and harmonization of sectoral policies for member countries; a platform for congress and coordination; a home for expertise and knowledge, and an information observatory. ESCWA aims at supporting economic and social cooperation between the region’s countries and promoting development process in order to achieve regional integration. Libya, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of Tunisia became members of ESCWA in September 2012. By this new membership, the number of ESCWA countries rose to 17, including: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, The Sudan, The Syrian Arab Republic, The United Arab Emirates and Yemen. * *** * For more information: http://www.escwa.un.org/information/meetingdetails.asp?referenceNUM=3451e