Robert Tromop, a New Zealander who heads the energy efficiency unit at the International Energy Agengcy (IEA) in Paris, says energy efficiency requires an upfront investment of around half a trillion dollars a year – which ironically equates roughly to the IEA’s estimate of annual subsidies paid to the global fossil fuel industry.

Tromop concludes therefore we don’t have a financing problem, but we do need longer term thinking. He argues that the health benefits alone could pay for the investment.

Read the whole story by Reneweconomy’s Giles Parkinson (28 February 2013) who is attending the Australian Summer Study on Energy Efficiency and Decentralised Energy in Sydney this week.