Known as the ‘bread-basket of Europe’, Ukraine has long been famed for its plentiful agricultural production. Agricultural and food products are the country’s biggest exports, which doesn’t come as a surprise when 70% of the country, 41.5 million hectares, is covered by agricultural land. Being the world’s foremost exporter of sunflower oil, and the sixth biggest exporter of wheat, the agri-food industry is a life-force for the Ukrainian economy.

But profitability is low and a lack of adequate financing means that businesses still rely on outdated equipment that wastes energy.

 In 2011, UNIDO began a project to improve energy efficiency and promote renewable energy in the agro-food sector. With funding from the Global Environment Facility (the GEF) totaling $5,768,400, UNIDO has launched a total of 16 pilot projects. They demonstrate how new technology can reduce reliance on expensive fossil fuels, enabling businesses to increase profits while lessening the impact on the environment.

Ukraine is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, but the cost, both environmentally and financially is high. Manuel Mattiat of UNIDO’s Department of Energy explains, “The biggest benefit of these new low-carbon technologies is simply that it is much cheaper to use them, so you can increase your production.”

Ukraine’s vast fields have a huge capacity for extensive biomass usage. Vladyslava Rutytska, Vice President of the SigmaBleyzer Investment Fund, one of UNIDO’s implementing partners, is calling for an increase in the use of biomass for the production of alternative energy. She explained, “The numbers we calculated could be up to 14 or 15 % of the total energy production in Ukraine. But right now we have only 7%.” She said there is a need and a potential for a shift towards more intelligent fuels.

Among the beneficiaries from these projects is the Pavlivskiy brewery in the west of Ukraine. With UNIDO’s support, they have installed a field of solar panels, which then heat the water they feed into the boilers. Yuriy Pikuta, the director of the brewery, elaborated: “Previously, we fed water to the boilers for conversion into steam at a temperature of 10 to 12°C. Thanks to this field of solar panels, today the water comes to the boiler at a temperature of 70 to 80°C.” Now, less gas is needed to heat the water.  As a result, the brewery has cut gas consumption by 20% in a year, and lowered its CO2 emissions.

“Thanks to the solar panels, the boilers are used less and definitely they generate fewer emissions into the atmosphere. The result is plain to see,” Pikuta concluded.

In the city of Boryspil in northern central Ukraine, oak-flooring producer, Variatsiya, was able to install a biomass boiler which runs on the production waste that is generated in huge quantities by their processing cycle. This boiler is then used to dry the wood, a vital but highly energy-intensive part of the production process.

Oleksandr Grabchenko, the co-owner of the company, said: “The use of solid fuel boilers and the phasing out of natural gas have given us the opportunity to avoid emitting 420 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.”

As well as environmental benefits, the business has saved money, which has then been used to increase numbers of the workforce.

Looking ahead to the future, UNIDO worked in partnership with the State Agency of Energy Efficiency, another counterpart agency, to prepare practical plans in the ‘National Energy Efficiency Action Plan till 2020’ and the ‘Renewable Energy Action Plan’. During the development of a sectoral roadmap for agro-food industries multiple workshops to share results with public and private entities were organized.

Serhiy Savchuk, Head of the State Agency of Energy Efficiency, is enthusiastic about the information that these projects provide “about the profitability of such projects throughout the market,” adding that the impressive results “will give us an opportunity to attract additional funds and additional institutional investors for particular projects.”

At the national level, project experts have participated in analyzing and drafting laws aiming to support the greater uptake of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the agro-food sector, including an assessment of lessons learned from the experiences of other countries.

Having seen the implementation on the ground, all of the partner agencies are eager to expand and replicate in other sectors. With promising reductions in CO2 emissions and energy consumption, the future of renewable energy in the agribusiness of Ukraine is underway.

Have you ever wondered why cow dung smells? The answer to this question lies in a chemical process called anaerobic digestion. It happens whenever organic matter decomposes in the absence of oxygen. Due to microbial action, it undergoes a process of fermentation which converts carbohydrates into volatile fatty acids and gases, one of which is methane. When released into the atmosphere, methane is a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Therefore, whenever farmers spread manure on the land in order to fertilize it, they are emitting greenhouse gases. There is also a risk that the nitrates and phosphates present in the manure will leak into water supplies and cause excessive algae growth and pollution.

Fortunately, there is another way of looking at the issue: methane is a greenhouse gas, but it is also a valuable resource. For example, the natural gas piped into our homes to generate electricity and heat is primarily methane.

Three workshops organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Bonn, Singapore and Montevideo have promoted a group of technologies called waste-to-energy (WtE), which improve the management of organic waste and use anaerobic digestion to produce and collect methane, subsequently turning it into a source of energy.

“We showed participants clear examples of how waste-to-energy can become a new source of income for farms,” said Manuel Albaladejo, UNIDO Country Representative.

An example of how this can be done comes from Uruguay, where a project called Biovalor – led by UNIDO and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) – is promoting the use of waste-to-energy in dairy farms. It teaches farmers how to collect, produce and manage methane from cow manure. The gas is then burned to produce electricity. As production of electricity often exceeds farms’ demand, a scheme is being negotiated which will allow farmers to sell the excess electricity to the National Electricity Utility (UTE) which becomes another source of income. The anaerobic digestion process also produces organic compost which, once spread on fields, acts as a natural fertilizer and brings nutrients back to the soil.

Similarly, other kinds of organic waste can be turned into biogas by waste-to-energy technologies: municipal wastewater solids, food waste, high-strength industrial wastewater and residuals, fats, and even oils. Separated digested solids can be composted, utilized for dairy bedding, directly applied to cropland, or converted into other products.

More importantly, waste-to-energy processes give a second-life to materials that would otherwise be considered waste. They lead farmers to rethink the common practices of just burying or spreading manure. As a consequence, they give value to a by-product which otherwise would have had none. Leveraging on this change in perspective, the workshops also discussed the transition to a circular economy in agro-industry and how businesses can be redesigned to minimize their negative impact.

The circular economy is a concept which has been gaining traction worldwide because it looks beyond the current take-make-dispose extractive industrial model. With the promise of decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources, in the circular economy processes are redesigned to eliminate waste whenever possible. As a consequence, the model is considered essential to addressing many of the causes of climate change, pollution and other environmental issues.

“By adopting circular business models, agro-industry can reduce the amount of waste it produces and turn what is left into a new source of income and at the same time protect the environment,” added Albaladejo.

Two-thirds of Africans still lack reliable access to electricity. To make matters more complicated, population growth is soaring. In Tanzania, around half of the population is under 15 years of age and creating jobs for all the young people joining the labour market in the coming years will be a real challenge without vastly increased access to clean electricity.

Existing and upcoming small businesses could be a part of the solution. Even now, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) provide around 80% of the jobs in sub-Saharan Africa, but the energy situation makes it impossible for them to flourish. Dealing with constant blackouts, they must partially – and some of them even entirely – rely on backup generators as a source of electricity. Powered by diesel, such generators provide energy at a high cost, both financially and in terms of environmental impact, in particular, global warming.

Avoiding the traditional path to industrialization will be essential to achieving a sustainable future. With the world facing the dramatic consequences of climate change, Africa’s economic transformation must be powered by clean and renewable energy sources. This means the continent will have to leapfrog to new technologies.

With this in mind, the Government of Tanzania has made it a priority to increase access to renewable energy sources. In a partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and with funds from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a small hydropower project has helped establish eight small/mini-hydropower plants with a cumulative generating capacity of nearly 5000kW.

The project has also established a technical hub at the University of Dar el Salaam’s College of Engineering and Technology. With a focus on capacity-building, the technical hub offers consultancy and training, and, significantly, manufactures its own micro/mini hydropower turbines.

“With such a high demand for clean and reliable energy, we thought it was important for Tanzania to be able to manufacture small hydro turbines locally and start developing a national industry based on renewable energy technologies,” said Jossy Thomas, UNIDO Industrial Development Officer.

Tanzania has an abundance of water resources, rivers and streams. This allows for the production of electricity in a small scale. Almost 50% of the country’s energy capacity is generated from hydropower, but the potential for generation is at least seven times the current usage.

Richard Muyungi, Director of Environment, Vice-president’s Office, Tanzania, said, “We are using renewable energy sources in areas where we cannot reach communities through the national grid. This is going to be very important as Tanzania becomes an industrialized country.”

Globally, hydropower is the most utilized form of renewable energy. But many developing countries cannot afford to build large hydropower plants because of the high costs involved. Small hydro plants, on the other hand, are highly affordable.

Large hydro plant projects also have huge environmental impact. The construction of dams and the flooding of river valleys destroy forests, wildlife habitat, agricultural and scenic lands. Sometimes whole communities have to be relocated. By contrast, small hydropower plants have minimal impact on the environment as river water is used without significant changes to the topography or water flow.

Most important for businesses, small-scale hydraulic energy delivers a predictable amount of energy over the year. In Njombe, where one of the eight plants is set, Ayoub Michael Lwilla, said, “We see the mushrooming of small and medium enterprises, who found productive uses for electricity.”

Charles Janilofa Tave, a carpenter in Njombe, added, “Having electricity allows us to use modern machines, instead of hand tools. Now, I can do a month’s work in just one week.”

Providing access to energy is the first step in developing the manufacturing activities that will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Read about the Vienna Energy Forum Special Session 2018.

Or read the World Small Hydropower Development Report 2016.

Story: Monica Maduekwe: breaking the vicious cycle of energy poverty

Innovators and entrepreneurs are working to speed up the transition towards clean and renewable energy sources, but many of the innovative clean energy projects have trouble raising the finance to turn their ideas into reality.

This was the case for ATEC, a social enterprise in Cambodia which has developed appropriate technology to address the health and environmental issues associated with cooking with wood and charcoal.

ATEC produces a small-scale biodigester system for rural Cambodian households. The basis of the system is a biodigester container which can be filled with a combination of organic waste – such as leftovers from the kitchen and animal manure – and water. When the waste decomposes it produces methane gas, which can be used for cooking. As well as providing a free and sustainable energy source, the process leaves waste that can also be used as a natural fertilizer for crops. The use of the ATEC biodigester system can save the average Cambodian family around $254 per year.

ATEC is one of the beneficiaries of the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN), an initiative of the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) in cooperation with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Expert Group on Technology Transfer. PFAN is hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).

PFAN's goal is to bridge the gap between investors and entrepreneurs. It identifies promising clean energy projects at an early stage and provides no-cost coaching and investment facilitation – that includes mentoring for the development of a business plan, investment pitches and a growth strategy. When in place, these measures make it easier for investors to understand a project’s potential, increasing the odds that they will make an investment.

ATEC was one of the twelve companies to pitch their product to a group of investors at the 7th Asia Forum for Clean Energy Financing 2017 in Singapore. The event, organized by PFAN, brought together more than 80 investors from across the globe. The company came out as second runner-up and the exposure it received led it to finding the funding necessary to scale up its operations. ATEC is now present in 13 provinces in Cambodia and is looking to expand into neighbouring countries such as Myanmar and Indonesia.

So far around 487 clean energy initiatives have been inducted into PFAN project development pipeline. The initiatives are developing appropriate technologies to provide biogas, biomass, waste-to-energy, clean transport, wind, solar, small hydro, rural electrification and energy efficiency solutions. Eighty-seven of them have achieved financial closure with over US$ 1.24bn of investment raised. Combined, these enterprises have the potential to mitigate over 3.3 million tons of CO2e emissions per year and provide over 802 MW of clean energy capacity.

Access to sustainable and clean energy sources is essential to the goals set by the Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on climate change. It also contributes to a higher standing of living, and better health and education, and is crucial for the productive activities that can raise people out of poverty.

One of the main barriers to implementing renewable energy solutions is the lack of funding, especially in developing countries. In a world where one billion people still lack access to electricity and three billion don’t have access to clean cooking, a lot more investment is needed. Initiatives like PFAN work to fill this gap and provide people with access to affordable, clean energy.

Find out more about the Climate and Clean Energy Investment Forum – Vienna 2018.

Read about the Vienna Energy Forum 2018 Special Session.

“Modern energy services are the thread that holds together the fabric of a modern society.” This is the view of Monica Maduekwe, a Renewable Energy Programme Officer at the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Centre was established in 2010 with the support of UNIDO, in response to the ongoing energy crisis in the region. Power plants were not operating at full capacity because the high costs of fuel proved to be a significant obstacle for countries’ efforts to meet the energy needs of their population. In the midst of low access to modern energy services and energy security issues, as well as climate change concerns, ECREEE was created to coordinate a solution to these serious challenges.

As a specialized agency charged with promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency markets in the region, one of the first things the Centre set out to accomplish was to develop the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy and the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy. However, according to Maduekwe, previously many early energy-related policies were “gender-blind.”

Maduekwe joined ECREEE as an intern at the headquarters in Praia, Cape Verde, in 2011, having graduated from the University of Dundee with a MSc. in Energy Studies. In 2012, she became a technical project assistant and since 2014 she has coordinated the ECREEE Programme on Gender Mainstreaming in Energy Access which provides women with increased access to modern, affordable and reliable energy services, energy security and environmental sustainability.

Ensuring access to these services involves overcoming a number of challenges, encompassing economic, social and political inequality. Women in the region broadly have much lower access to education, credit and assets – for example, in Senegal and Mali around 90% and 95% of land titles are held by men, respectively.

Women also continue to be outside the decision-making spheres in their households and communities. While women continue to be over-represented in administrative positions in the national ministries of energy , men assume the majority of managerial and technical roles. Furthermore, when it comes to legal rights, frequently women find themselves without protection from the State - only five out of fifteen countries in ECOWAS have legislation protecting women’s land rights.

In the face of these challenges, Maduekwe believes that policy reform is fundamental for helping to break “the vicious cycle of energy poverty, which propagates economic, social and political marginalization for the already marginalized.” She says that gender mainstreaming must be central to this reform but it must also go beyond a narrow focus on “the number of times ‘women’ or ‘gender’ is used [in a policy document.]”

For Maduekwe, energy policies of the future must go beyond a consideration of promoting women’s participation, and must tackle existing challenges at three levels: political, energy supplier and energy consumer. This is the approach put forward by ECREEE, which seeks to increase the share of renewables (including large hydro) in the region’s overall electricity mix to 35% in 2020 and 48% in 2030.

Beyond its policy-related work, the Centre also runs a range of community driven projects, predominantly in rural locations, which put the beneficiaries at the heart of project design and implementation, ensuring that participants are directly involved in informing ECREEE’s future interventions. “Rather than trying to help people, we should help them to help themselves. That way you have everyone involved, in whatever little way, to fight poverty,” affirms Maduekwe.

Ultimately, reducing energy poverty is integral to ending poverty, and ensuring that women are central to this is essential. “It is important to create opportunities for women to be gainfully employed in the sustainable energy sector, as well as to have sufficient energy access to produce goods and services, for economic growth and stability,” says Maduekwe.

Delving into difficult topics, addressing the very real issue of gender imbalance in the energy sector and investing in the promotion of female education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), are just some of the ways that the “bargaining power” of women can be boosted.

“All hands need to be on deck to achieve the goal of ending poverty by 2030,” says Maduekwe. “If women are not given the support to be engaged in the sector, it will be a missed opportunity, not just for women but for the achievement of an inclusive and sustainable development.”

Related Links

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Webpage: Gender equality and the empowerment of women

There are four brand-new solar energy panels in the Botanical Garden in Chișinău, Moldova. They provide Maria Sofroni, whose job is to reintegrate rare plant species back into nature, with hot water to clean her equipment. The money saved on energy costs is used to invest in the renovation of the Garden’s infrastructure.

“We are very satisfied with this equipment. After the installation, we have free hot water all the time,” Sofroni said.

The Botanical Garden has been selected as a demonstration site for newest solar thermal panels manufactured in Moldova. The JSC Raut factory, in Balti, has just finished making its first 100 panels, which are now ready not only to be sold in Molodova, but also in neighbouring countries, such as Romania and the Ukraine, which have a high demand for the product.

JSC Raut  was one of the biggest factories for metal processing and manufacturing of military equipment during the Soviet era. With the help of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the government of Poland, the factory has been modernized and local engineers have learned new skills in order to make the solar thermal panels.

Grigorii Stah, technology engineer at JSC Raut, is very excited about being a part of this change. “Here I can use my brain to change and improve things. This sector is the future and it is very interesting work. I am very happy to be a part of it,” he said.

Industry is the second biggest consumer of energy in Moldova after the residential sector. In recent years, the sector accounted for 18% national energy and 34% of its electricity consumption. It was responsible for 13% of total greenhouse gases emissions.

Because Moldova needs to develop its economy without harming the environment, investing in renewable energy is essential for country. Solar thermal energy can increase the competitiveness of the country’s industrial sector, while decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions that usually come from producing heat.

Investing in renewable energy has other benefits. For example, it can decrease the country’s poverty level by providing easier access to energy resources for the population and reduce the dependency on energy imports.

Rapidly raising energy prices, combined with low levels of energy performance, have generated major economic and market potential for renewable energy and industrial energy efficiency products and services.

Manuel Mattiat, UNIDO Renewable Energy Expert, said “It’s a highly competitive location with the necessary infrastructure in place. The workers, the know-how, the skills are there”.

“We have seen how local companies easily assimilate new technology and products,” added Nicolae Soloviov, Project Finance Consultant for the Energy Efficiency Agency of the Republic of Moldova.

As JSC Raut continues to produce and sell its solar panels, it will give other companies access to cheap water heating, allowing them to save costs and cut down on energy consumption. Like Maria Sofroni, many other people in the region will benefit from the technology.

Vienna Energy Forum 2018

Find out more about UNIDO's approach to Renewable Energy

Every day, 120 young women arrive at the centre, located in Tunjeren, a city on the west coast. Inside, they receive basic, occupational and cross-cutting education, including training on cosmetology, nursing, electricity and solar installation, filmmaking and computer training.

Yet, it wasn't always like that.

In 2012, the centre only had one computer and a fuel generator to supply energy for all its activities.

”We had 15 students in front of one screen. One day the computer blew up because of voltage problems and we realized we needed to change,” recalls Malang Sambou, founder of M’bolo, the non-governmental organization behind the Fandema centre.

Today, Fandema has 80 solar panels and a wind turbine operating at full power. It is self-sufficient in terms of power supply and it is inspiring an entire community.

Seeking a reliable energy source and mainstreaming gender

Over the past five years, with the help of two projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by UNIDO, young women have been trained to design, install and maintain stand-alone power systems.

“Thanks to the panels, we now have access to energy and it has given us stability. It has allowed us to grow. Our activities increased from three to 16, and now, with the second installation, we have 37”, Malang added.

During the first project, 14 young women in the area received education on electricity and solar installation. Thirty solar panels were installed.

The second ongoing project is a little bit different and no teachers are required.

Under the supervision of an engineer, the same group of previously trained women is now charged with sharing their knowledge with their peers. They have become “trainer trainees”, and in the process are breaking local stereotypes and promoting gender equality in a country where only 37% of the female population has access to education.

The group has installed 50 panels entirely by themselves, allowing the centre to expand its activities and providing new sources of income to vulnerable young women in the area.

Girl -renewable- Power

Jankey Jassey, 23, is one of them. After finishing the training in Fandema, she fell in love with cables, switches and voltages, and decided to study electrical installation at the Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI).

However, for Jankey, Fandema is still a home-from-home, and she comes back three times a week and teaches other young women about the basics of electricity.

“I would like to see many girls like me studying to become an electrician.  I discovered this is not only for men and they should too!” she tells us proudly.

Light at the end of the tunnel

In the Republic of Gambia, over 800,000 people (40% of the population) live in rural areas, yet only few have access to electricity.

In such a dark scenario, Fandema has managed to inspire the community about the use of renewable energies.

Nowadays, in the area around the centre it is common to see buildings with solar panels. According to Malang, “Before there was a lack of confidence, there was no technology or knowledge about solar installations”.

The newly trained solar installers have been requested to carry out the installation for other solar projects outside the centre, including at the city market and for street lighting. Even administrators of a local hotel visited the centre to see what was being done and, as a result, decided to abandon their fuel generators and switch completely to solar energy.

“Renewable energy is helping women unlock economic opportunities,” states Alois Mhlanga, UNIDO project manager leading both projects. “These pilots have not only enhanced the acceptance of renewable energy technologies but have also helped develop the technical capacity needed to sustain the nascent market for renewables in The Gambia” he added.  

The road to a fully sustainable centre

Fandema is a third of the way along the path to its objective of becoming a fully sustainable centre.

“We would need 160 more panels to become a completely sustainable organization, and then we will be able to sell electricity, help the community and finance ourselves. That’s our challenge”, Malang says.

LI Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), says, “UNIDO sees its role in the climate change field as a catalyst for scaling up investments in clean energy solutions, strengthening policy frameworks to create an enabling environment and to secure funding for increased market penetration of renewable energy, energy efficient and low carbon technologies”

One way that UNIDO mobilizes funds for climate action is through its partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF). UNIDO became a full implementing agency for the GEF in 2006 and, since then, has received GEF funds to work on issues related to climate change mitigation (renewable energy and energy efficiency), as well as international waters and chemicals (persistent organic pollutants, mercury and e-waste).

The primary energy supply for industry is provided by the combustion of fossil fuel. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, industry accounts for around 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Recognizing the role of industry for global climate action, UNIDO and the GEF have developed their cooperation around the cross-cutting areas of SDG7 on sustainable energy, SDG9 on industrial development, infrastructure and innovation, and SDG13 on climate action.

Climate action

Climate action involves both mitigation, preventing further impacts of climate change, and adaptation, helping communities adapt their livelihoods to unavoidable changes.

UNIDO’s long-term partnership with the GEF has allowed it to mobilize GEF grants with a multitude of cooperating partners, from governments to the private sector and financial institutions. Over the course of the five year period, 2012-2016, UNIDO gained approvals of $278.4 million in GEF project grants. In 2016, UNIDO was implementing 81 GEF-funded projects within the GEF’s thematic focal areas of climate change.

With support from the GEF, UNIDO designs and implements energy and climate change projects to increase energy efficiency and access to renewable energy for productive uses, building low-carbon industrial value chains. Besides curbing GHG emissions, these measures also reduce operational costs and make industries more competitive.

Renewable energy for productive uses

GEF-backed UNIDO projects to reduce carbon emissions include the development of policies and regulatory frameworks that facilitate renewable energy installations, generate technical innovation and foster the dissemination of technology and know-how.

In Tanzania, for example, a GEF-4 project stimulates sustainable industrial productivity with a two-fold approach based on new small hydropower installations and building local technical capacity. UNIDO is providing clean electricity for productive purposes, while also developing an associated local workforce in the manufacturing and technology development of hydro turbines.

As a result of the project, one 10 kW, two 50 kW and one 80 kW locally manufactured cross-flow turbines are already operating in Tanzania. Another eight small hydropower plants with a cumulative capacity of 5 MW using different business models are at various stages of execution. The first facility alone directly prevents emissions of 6,300 tCO2e each year.

Industrial energy efficiency

Industrial energy consumption amounts to nearly 30% of the overall use by all sectors. But energy efficiency measures such as wide-scale upgrading and the deployment of best available technologies could cut industrial energy intensity by a quarter. The most energy-intensive sub-sectors such as iron and steel, cement, petrochemicals, as well as pulp and paper production, bear the largest technical potential for energy savings at 10-40 per cent.

In order to mainstream energy into existing management systems of industries, UNIDO and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed a standard for Energy Management Systems in 2011. EnMS-ISO 50001 provides guidelines for the better management of energy usage and how to upgrade production processes for greater industrial energy savings.

Adoption of the standard is being promoted by UNIDO through operational projects in 17 countries. More than 350 enterprises have been certified to ISO 50001, which has already led to more than 7,000 GWh in cumulative primary energy savings.

For example, in Viet Nam, a UNIDO-GEF project has helped 77 enterprises to adopt energy management systems in line with ISO 50001 and 139 enterprises to implement system optimization. These measures far exceeded original targets for efficiency increases, achieving cumulative annual emissions reductions of 106,000 tCO2e.

UNIDO and the GEF are continuing to safeguard the global commons through interventions for a clean and efficient management of the Earth’s resources by accelerating disruptive system shifts, building livable cities for tomorrow, creating sustainable food systems, sharing resourceful production and waste-management practices, and backing productive activities powered by carbon-free energy.

Find out more:

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