International Educational Course on SDGs – SDG7

Gabriela Prata Dias is the current Head of the Business Models and Markets strategy at UNEP DTU Partnership and Head at the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency. Her presentation starts with a series of basic and crucial information on energy, from primary energy sources to energy uses. Following, she presents how the international climate regime frames energy efficiency, explaining what is the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the SDG7. Building off this, she explains the actual meaning of energy efficiency and the benefits of improving the energy efficiency rates. This covers environmental advantages, related to the reduction of greenhouse gasses emissions, as well as socio-economic gains.

Furthermore, Ms. Prata Dias unfolds how to develop local energy efficiency plans, step-by-step. Next, she illustrates a series of case studies from different sectors, such as lighting, building, transport, etc. Lastly, the presentation is concluded with an outline of the principal challenges to implement energy efficiency measures, which cover data availability, capacity and technical skills, financial structures, and scalability.