One of the ways EKOenergy ensures additionality is through the Climate Fund. Thanks to users of EKOenergy-labelled electricity, we finance green energy projects that would not have happened otherwise. All supported projects contribute to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals. We financed the first projects in 2015 and since then, we have financed 36 projects, totalling 824,311 €. You can see all of these projects on our new Climate Fund projects map. Thanks a lot to all those involved!
2. Public consultation: EKOenergy criteria for heat
Our nonprofit ecolabel is expanding its scope towards heat (and cooling). We have just published the proposal for EKOenergy's criteria for renewable heat and cooling. From 10 December 2019 to 31 January 2020 we are organising a public consultation about the proposal. During this process, we are only focusing on geothermal heat, solar thermal energy, heat from heat recuperation, and heat generated with heat pumps. Early next year, we will start another process to update EKOenergy’s criteria for bioenergy. In combination with that second process, the criteria for heat may be extended to cover specific types of bioenergy-based heat too.
"We are hoping that our concrete projects and their successes will have a positive impact on energy policy. Sudan has been going through tough times - we hope politicians' focus can move towards renewables." Rofaida Elzubair, Practical Action Sudan - in an interview about one of the solar projects supported by EKOenergy's Climate Fund.
3. EKOenergy at REC Market Meeting 2020
As in previous years, EKOenergy is a proud partner of the REC Market Meeting. The annual conference gathers global experts of renewable energy markets. The next REC Market Meeting will take place in Amsterdam on 31 March and 1 April 2020. The programme is now online and looks very promising. In 2019, the conference welcomed more than 400 attendees, covering a wide range of topics. The upcoming conference will be even bigger and better! We thank the organisers for involving EKOenergy in several sessions and we look forward to meeting many of you there! For more information and registration, see www.recmarket.eu.
"Minimising the negative environmental impact of tourism is important for entrepreneur Anne-Mari Pauku. Veranatura offers alternatives to mass tourism (...) Moreover, Veranatura's office is powered by EKOenergy.” Article about sustainable tourism in Luonnonsuojelija, magazine of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation. Thanks a lot Veranatura.
5. Demanding a just transition towards 100% renewable energy at COP 25
Ahead of the COP25, as well as at the COP itself, many NGOs have been highlighting the importance of a just transition to 100% renewable energy. This means a transition which gives people the chance to adjust and makes sure that no one is left behind. EKOenergy is following the discussions too and we support the concrete demands of Climate Action Network Europe. The world needs large energy demand reductions across all sectors by 2030, large reductions of fossil fuel use, and rapid increase in the use of renewable energy. OECD countries should phase out coal energy entirely by 2030 at the latest, phase out gas by 2035, and oil by 2040. This economy-wide transition needs to be just and fair. For this to happen, governments, local authorities, businesses, and finance institutions need to bring a comprehensive Just Transition Framework together with unions, local communities and environmental organisations. The sooner such measures are taken, the less of a burden it will be on society.
"Tell me, how do you react to these numbers without at least some level of panic? How do you respond to the fact that basically nothing is being done without feeling the slightest bit of anger?” Greta Thunberg at COP 25 - watch the speech on our Youtube channel.
6. Predictions of global warming since the 1970s correct, and that's not good news
A group of scientists has done a systematic review of climate models, dating back to the late 1970s. The conclusion is that climate models published over the past five decades were generally quite accurate in predicting global warming. Even the crude early models were fairly accurate. None of the models the authors analyzed were badly wrong. The good news is that this finding increases our confidence that models are accurately projecting global warming. The bad news is that the projections all point to disastrous outcomes... Text from David Roberts, copied from Vox, 4 December 2019
We at EKOenergy are always looking to grow our network. If you want more information about becoming a partner of ours, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
