Energy is cross-cutting, spanning highly diverse sectors. As a result, it plays a pivotal role in efforts to mitigate the climate crisis. In recognition of this cornerstone role, 15 November was officially designated Energy Day at COP27. This day focused on all aspects of energy, including just transitions, energy poverty, and buildings, to name just a few.

At the Multilevel Action Pavilion, several sessions highlighted the role that energy plays, zooming in on both energy access and energy poverty, all in the context of highlighting effective multilevel governance.

In one of these sessions, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) launched a new Energy Access and Poverty Pillar of their Common Reporting Framework (CRF), which outlines a set of indicators, guidelines, and timelines to help local authorities take action for just energy transition. ICLEI Europe, which is part of the GCoM’s Strategic Advisory Committee, was a strong voice at the Pavilion in favour of this newly bolstered focus on energy equity and justice. Furthermore, by looking at energy justice in the context of the CRF, speakers were able to clearly articulate the ways that data can be leveraged to address energy poverty.

In a followup session, the GCoM launched the second edition of the Multilevel Action Playbook. These “playbooks” bring together stories of successful, on-the-ground collaboration across levels of government; the most recent edition specifically focuses on turning ambition into action. Success stories of this nature were presented at the session by local leaders from Togo, Australia and Denmark. Their stories reflected the playbook’s four key areas, which readers can tap into to accelerate multilevel action, namely: policy levers, enablers & processes, trailblazers, and recommendations for each level of government.

ICLEI Europe was also advocating for energy transition at the Buildings Pavillion, which was hosted by the United Nations’ Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. In a session entitled “Positive Energy Buildings and Districts as a Cornerstone of Local Climate Action Pathways to a Net-Zero Future”, Wolfgang Teubner, Regional Director of ICLEI Europe, moderated discussions about the roll-out of Positive Energy Buildings and Districts (PEB&Ds). ICLEI firmly believes that PEB&Ds will play a key role in helping local governments reach ambitious climate mitigation and resilience goals in cities across global regions. However, to make them a reality, local governments need support and collaborations to address socio-economic, planning, and investment challenges related to PEB&Ds. ICLEI Europe is committed to helping to address these challenges, through its work with European cities on projects like EXCESS and nZEB.

There is certainly an argument to be made that energy is relevant – even key! – to all of ICLEI Europe’s work and each of the COP27 “themes”. It is, therefore, important that the focus of Energy Day at COP27 was diverse, and did not lose sight of energy equity. The next step, in light of the new pillars, playbooks, and resources launched on Energy Day, is for COP negotiations to adequately reflect the ambitious action needed to make just energy transition a reality.