With the world in the midst of the first global energy crisis – triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine – the World Energy Outlook 2022 (WEO) provides indispensable analysis and insights on the implications of this profound and ongoing shock to energy systems across the globe.

Based on the latest energy data and market developments, this year’s WEO explores key questions about the crisis: Will it be a setback for clean energy transitions or a catalyst for greater action? How might government responses shape energy markets? Which energy security risks lie ahead on the path to net zero emissions?

The WEO is the energy world’s most authoritative source of analysis and projections. This flagship publication of the IEA has appeared every year since 1998. Its objective data and dispassionate analysis provide critical insights into global energy supply and demand in different scenarios and the implications for energy security, climate targets and economic development.

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Energy Efficiency 2022 is the IEA’s primary annual analysis on global developments in energy efficiency markets and policy. It explores recent trends in energy intensity, demand and efficiency-related investment, innovation, policy and technology while also discussing key questions facing policy makers. 

This year record-high consumer energy bills and securing reliable access to supply are urgent political and economic imperatives for almost all governments. In response to the energy crisis countries are prioritising energy efficiency action due to its ability to simultaneously meet affordability, supply security and climate goals.

While efficiency investment has recently been increasing to reach new record levels, the pace of global energy intensity improvements had noticeably slowed in the second half of the last decade and virtually stalled during the first two years of Covid-19. With efforts to better manage energy consumption as a result of the crisis increasing the rate of improvement once more, the question as to whether 2022 will see a sustained efficiency turning point, and what more can be done, are key themes of this year’s report.

Renewables 2022 is the IEA’s primary analysis on the sector, based on current policies and market developments. It forecasts the deployment of renewable energy technologies in electricity, transport and heat to 2027 while also exploring key challenges to the industry and identifying barriers to faster growth.

The current global energy crisis brings both new opportunities and new challenges for renewable energy. Renewables 2022 provides analysis on the new policies introduced in response to the energy crisis. This year’s report frames current policy and market dynamics while placing the recent rise in energy prices and energy security challenges in context.

In addition to its detailed market analysis and forecasts, Renewables 2022 also examines key developments and trends for the sector, including the more ambitious renewable energy targets recently proposed by the European Union; the issue of windfall profits; the diversification of solar PV manufacturing; renewable capacity for hydrogen production; and a possible feedstock crunch in the biofuels industry and viable ways to avoid it.

Heat pumps, powered by low-emissions electricity, are the central technology in the global transition to secure and sustainable heating. The Future of Heat Pumps, a special report in the IEA’s World Energy Outlook series, provides an outlook for heat pumps, identifying key opportunities to accelerate their deployment. It also highlights the major barriers and policy solutions, and explores the implications of an accelerated uptake of heat pumps for energy security, consumers’ energy bills, employment and efforts to tackle climate change.

Around 10% of space heating needs globally were met by heat pumps in 2021, but the pace of installation is growing rapidly with sales at record levels. Government policy support is needed, though, to help consumers overcome heat pumps’ higher upfront costs relative to alternatives. Financial incentives for heat pumps are already available in over 30 countries, which together cover more than 70% of heating demand today. The IEA estimates heat pumps globally have the potential to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 500 million tonnes in 2030 – equal to the annual CO2 emissions of all cars in Europe today.

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This report - Sri Lanka Roadmap for Sustainable Housing and Construction 2020 – 2050 - presents the findings of the Sustainable Building Construction Country Assessment for Sri Lanka (SBC-CA) and a Roadmap for Sustainable Housing and Construction and achieving NDCs in the construction industry in Sri Lanka. It examines the current status, and potential opportunities and challenges for adopting Sustainable Building Construction (SBC) practices and policies. The Country Assessment and the Roadmap are structured on the approach laid out by the ‘Global Alliance for Building Construction (GlobalABC) Roadmap for Buildings and Construction 2020-2050, where 8 Action Areas have been identified for the transition towards sustainability in the Construction Sector: Urban planning, New Buildings, Existing Buildings, Building Operations, Appliances and Systems, Materials, Resilience, and Clean Energy.

Download the roadmap here.

The Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction (Buildings-GSR) is a flagship publication of the UNEP-hosted Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC). The Buildings-GSR provides an annual snapshot of the progress of the buildings and construction sector on a global scale and reviews the status of policies, finance, technologies, and solutions to monitor whether the sector is aligned with the Paris Agreement goals. It also provides stakeholders with evidence to persuade policymakers and the overall buildings and construction community to take action.

What is new in the 2022 Buildings-GSR? 

• Buildings and construction: disruptions and challenges facing the buildings sector in 2022 
• Global Building Carbon Tracker: Are we on track towards the Paris Agreement Goals?
• Updates on building codes and building decarbonisation in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
• Status of investment in building energy efficiency
• Deep dive on:
  • Africa (regional focus)
  • Building materials (topical focus)

The 2022 Buildings-GSR finds that 

• Despite a substantial increase in investment and success at a global level lowering the energy intensity of buildings, the sector’s total energy consumption and CO2 emissions increased in 2021 above pre-pandemic levels. Buildings energy demand increased by around 4% from 2020 to 135 EJ – the largest increase in the last 10 years. CO2 emissions from buildings operations have reached an all-time high of around 10 GtCO2, around a 5% increase from 2020 and 2% higher than the previous peak in 2019. 
• The buildings and construction sector is not on track to achieve decarbonization by 2050. And the gap between the actual climate performance of the sector and the decarbonization pathway is widening.
• Global energy price volatility and rising interest rates are likely to hamper investment in building decarbonization by governments, households, and businesses. 

Download our 2022 Buildings-GSR and read more!

Watch our video "Is the Buildings and Construction Sector on Track to decarbonize? 2022 Buildings-GSR." 

The IEA – at the request of the Government of Indonesia and to coincide with Indonesia’s Presidency of the G20 – has developed a comprehensive roadmap to net zero by 2060 for the country, which charts a path for the country’s energy transition over the coming decades. The analysis in the Energy Sector Roadmap to Net Zero Emissions in Indonesia spans key areas such as people‑centred transitions, the phasing down of coal use, investment and financing needs, and critical minerals. It also sets out a high-ambition pathway in which Indonesia reaches net zero by 2050. The project has been conducted in close collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia.

This publication provides an overview of off-site renewable energy options, and step-by-step instructions for real estate professionals to purchase off-site renewable energy for a building or portfolio, with several options for contracting to fit different real estate development strategies, ownership horizons, tenant requirements, and energy, sustainability, and financial goals. This guide is intended for U.S. real estate professionals in procurement, asset management, property management, engineering, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) who have the mandate to execute on the corporate sustainability strategy and energy purchasing.

The European Union has set a target to almost totally decarbonise the building sector by 2050, which raises the question of buildings’ energy performance. What is the best way of undertaking the immense energy renovation project needed to reach these objectives? One solution is to employ reliable measurement and guidance tools, such as Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), which are part of a common toolkit used by European countries.
The stakes are particularly high given that the EU Taxonomy, whose aim is to establish a common reference system to qualify – including for buildings – sustainable property and real estate projects, is partly based on a rating system centred on EPCs.
This study is part of a three-volume publication on European EPCs. The ESREI intends to publish two detailed comparisons of European EPCs in the sample of countries selected, respectively concerning residential buildings and office buildings.

Demand Response (DR), in simple terms, refers to the ability of load to change according to the grid requirements and is not a new concept in the Indian regulatory ecosystem. DR, is a method that enables the adjustment of demand, thereby allowing customers to participate in responding to changing grid conditions. The application of DR, a proven demand management tool, can effectively help electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) in India handle their increasing future electricity demand and operate reliably in a greener grid. This paper discusses DR’s value proposition for the distribution grid and the steps to unlocking this value.’

To sustain operations in the future and achieve the goal of affordable and reliable energy supply, DISCOMs need to think beyond EE programmes and take a proactive role in engaging with consumers. In this regard, DR presents a leapfrog opportunity for DISCOMs to adapt to the realities of a cleaner grid and high electrification of demand. In the next three years, DR needs to be integrated into the fabric of DISCOM processes, along with EE. In the future, with the proliferation of more energy-efficient and controllable loads, DR programmes need to be designed with real-time applications. The future of demand resources lies in embedding DR value within the EE programmes.

Read the report here.