EKOenergy is a partner organisation of the World Wind Energy Association's #renewables4ukraine campaign. The objective of the campaign is to ensure that critical infrastructure has a reliable supply of renewable energy to cover the most important civilian needs during wartime, for example by bringing solar power to schools and hospitals. The campaign also highlights the importance of the clean and sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine after the war.

In December, we decided to use 20,000 € of our renewable energy campaign budget for the #renewables4ukraine campaign. A part of this contribution has now been used to finance 2 autonomous mobile solar stations with electricity storage. Both stations will be put to use today: One system in the Kozyntsi Outpatient Clinic of Family Medicine (Bucha district) and one system at the Irpin Lyceum of Innovative Technologies. Follow us on social media for photos and updates.

It’s encouraging to see concrete results and we hope to contribute more this year. We also hope that our contribution will inspire others to finance similar projects. Contact us for more information.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance sets rules for the reporting of emissions of purchased electricity and heat. The World Resources Institute (WRI), which manages the standard, has launched a public consultation to map what changes would be needed. The deadline for submitting responses to the surveys is 14 March 2023.

We encourage stakeholders of the renewable energy markets to submit their responses. The survey is quite long, but you don't have to answer all questions and your answers can be short.

Feel free to use EKOenergy's comments and suggestions as a source of inspiration, or have a look at the position of RECS.

EKOenergy doesn't see a need for major changes to the Scope 2 Guidance. The current text supports the transition to renewable energy in many ways. This shouldn’t be compromised. We should focus on implementation now, not on additional theoretical discussions. Let's focus on sharing and promoting best practices instead, for example by elaborating on Chapter 11 of the Scope 2 Guidance and by providing summaries and translations of the texts.

 

- Ecohz, in their latest newsletter. Thanks, Ecohz!

Today is International Women's Day, honouring and celebrating the achievements of women and promoting a world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

We take the opportunity to thank all the women who are contributing to our work and success. The majority of our employees are women, more than 80% of our volunteers are women, and women are also well-represented in our decision structure.

At EKOenergy we see access to clean and reliable energy as a tool to promote equal rights and inclusiveness. Energy poverty is one of those conditions that disproportionally affect women. This is the case in developed countries, but even more so in developing countries, where lack of access to energy is an obstacle to women’s and girls’ well-being and economic opportunities. Many of the solar power projects that we finance contribute to improving women's livelihoods, such as the project to provide solar pumps to women farmers in Senegal, the project promoting solar-powered sewing machines to support women in Cameroon and the project that brought solar power to maternity units in Madagascar. A large number of financed projects are women-led too.

It is encouraging to see a page dedicated to "Use of additional, voluntary labels in the procurement of renewable electricity" in the RE100 2022 Annual Disclosure Report. Thanks a lot for highlighting the work of ecolabelling organisations such as EKOenergy!

In January, we announced in our own annual report that already 16 of the RE100 companies are using EKOenergy-labelled electricity in at least 1 of the countries where they are active. This way these companies help us promote renewable energy worldwide and support the installation of solar systems in developing countries.

The total volumes of ecolabelled power are still small (as pointed out in the RE100 report). But as renewable energy markets are getting more mature, a growing number of companies are becoming interested in taking the next step and EKOenergy is a perfect and worldwide available tool to help them do so.

 

- RE100 2022 Annual Disclosure Report, page 23

Users of EKOenergy-labelled energy help speed up the energy transition. Thanks to every EKOenergy user, we provide grants to new clean energy projects in developing countries. These projects improve the living standards of local communities, many of whom are in rural, off-grid areas.
 

• We published new Climate Stories leaflets about the recently finished projects: "Solar power for off-grid villages in Pakistan" and "Solar power to provide access to clean water in Tanzania".
   
• In 2022, we granted 30,000 € to Green Empowerment and their partner organisations in Myanmar. This, together with another grant they got from Meal a Day, enabled them to install solar systems in 8 health clinics. All systems have now been successfully installed! The project improves the medical services for over 27,000 people living near the Myanmar-Thai border. Thanks a lot to all sellers and users of EKOenergy-labelled energy.
   
• We got photos from Renewable World's Clean Energy For Health project in Kenya. Last year we granted them 33,000 €, which enabled them to bring solar power to 2 more clinics in Kajiado County.

Health facilities such as clinics and maternity wards rely on electricity to have decent lighting, refrigerate vaccines, and operate life-saving medical devices. Therefore, projects such as those in Myanmar and Kenya contribute to the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal 3: "Good health and well-being".

 

- Ember, in their new report Fit for the future, not Fit-for-55

As in previous years, EKOenergy is a proud supporting association of the REC Market Meeting conference.

This year's REC Market Meeting will take place in Amsterdam on the 25th and 26th of April. Together with the organisers, we want to make sure that both long-term experts and newcomers have a fruitful conference, with plenty of opportunities to meet, learn and discuss.

EKOenergy is particularly involved in the organisation of the C-stream sessions. The C-stream focuses on basic information about tracking systems. We will take a closer look at various stages of the tracking certificate life cycle and highlight new developments. Merve Güngör from EKOenergy will moderate session 4c "Why are energy certificates bought and sold?" and Steven Vanholme from EKOenergy will moderate session 5c "The various certificate schemes and their market boundaries".

For the full program and registration, see the conference website. Delegates can register for the normal fee until 17h CET on 31 March. After that, a higher ‘late’ fee will be applied. The REC Market Meeting sold out in 2022, so order your tickets in time!

EKOenergy is growing and we are looking forward to welcoming new colleagues.

We have just opened a position for a "Marketing coordinator Nordic market". This person will help us promote the use of EKOenergy-labelled energy and encourage EKOenergy users to use our internationally recognised logo in their communication. The geographical focus will be on the Nordic countries, therefore, good knowledge of Finnish is required.

The new employee will be based in Helsinki at the office of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and will work in close cooperation with other staff.

This is a permanent position. The starting date is flexible.

Interested? Check out the vacancy page on our website and send us your CV and motivation letter before 31 March!

 

- Arthouros Zervos, President of REN21, at the Spanish International Renewable Energy Conference

Follow EKOenergy on social media to get relevant updates about the climate crisis, renewable energy and climate action worldwide.

Here are some recent posts:
 

• We joined the 175+ civil society organisations: The @OECD must end export finance for all new oil and gas projects, and @ClubOfRome agrees! 50% of OECD member countries already committed to #StopFundingFossils ⚡️ now the rest must follow. (from our Twitter)
   
• Exactly 10 years ago, environmental organisations from various countries approved the criteria of the EKOenergy ecolabel. We took some time this afternoon to celebrate the anniversary with those who were at the office. (from our LinkedIn)
   
• 1 year of full-scale war in Ukraine: Let's not forget: Russia could only invade Ukraine sitting on a massive stockpile of #petrodollars to fund its war chest. (from our Twitter)
   
• Did you know? If you are an installer of solar systems, you can help your clients add the EKOenergy label to the kilowatt-hours that they produce and consume on-site. Our leaflet for solar installers is now available in German. (from our LinkedIn)
   
• While millions have to choose between heating and eating this winter, the EU institutions are crawling with fossil fuel lobbyists. The good news is, you can help kick them out ✊!  👉 Sign the petition here #FossilFreePolitics! (from our Twitter)
   
• 🇺🇦 Today marks 1 year of full-scale war in Ukraine. At today's Fridays For Future demonstration, we showed our support for the Ukrainians, while at the same time repeating our call for a fast and just energy transition. (from our Instagram)

In their new report “CO₂ emissions in 2022”, the International Energy Agency (IEA) provides a complete picture of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.

Global energy-related CO₂ emissions grew by 0.9% or 321 Mt in 2022, reaching a new high of over 36.8 Gt. Following two years of exceptional oscillations in energy use and emissions, caused in part by the Covid-19 pandemic, last year’s growth was much slower than 2021’s rebound of more than 6%. Emissions from energy combustion increased by 423 Mt, while emissions from industrial processes decreased by 102 Mt.

In a year marked by energy price shocks, rising inflation, and disruptions to traditional fuel trade flows, global growth in emissions was lower than feared, despite gas-to-coal switching in many countries. Increased deployment of clean energy technologies such as renewables, electric vehicles, and heat pumps helped prevent an additional 550 Mt in CO₂ emissions. Industrial production curtailment, particularly in China and Europe, also averted additional emissions.