Energy transition (‘Energiewende’) is the way forward towards a sustainable future.

For a successful transformation of the whole energy system, the German Government poses Energy efficiency as a priority, by endorsing policy measures at federal, federal state and local level aiming at energy savings.

The “Energy efficiency policy governance in a multi-level administration structure — evidence from Germany” article (Ringel, M. Energy Efficiency (2016), Springer) examines the German governance system and the set of German Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs). It emphasizes that despite the SEAPs’ focus on CO₂ reduction, systematic monitoring and verification (M&V) of energy efficiency is still neglected. It also looks at a harmonised M&V scheme covering the relevant energy aggregates and energy savings as a way to facilitate policy feedback. Furthermore, cost effective M&V systems can help save costs while still providing the necessary information with limited administrative work.

Together with solid formal coordination structures, informal coordination (feedback loops, best practices sharing) is also highlighted as necessary condition for effective policy design.

The article draws on a desk study prepared by the author for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in the framework of the European Union's Horizon 2020 project multEE - Facilitating multi-level governance for Energy Efficiency’ (www.multEE.eu).

_{Fotolia_© Florian INNOCENTE}