5 out of the 17 sustainable development goals have energy efficiency as a central focus.
Everything that has been going on with climate change, poverty, inequality, etc, has been in our hands. What is our solution? Energy Efficiency.
There have been some past initiatives like the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed upon in the year 2000 and were to be accomplished by 2015. These were 8 goals that aimed to improve aspects regarding extreme poverty, education, gender inequality, and some other issues, but this year, the time came to review the achievements made and they weren’t satisfying to say the least.
The consequences of years of thoughtlessness towards our surroundings are already visible. For this, leaders around the world are more aware of the importance in taking action towards redirecting our current ways for the sake of our immediate future and that of our coming generations.
Today we are presented with a brand new plan that has taken into account those issues addressed in the MDGs and many more that were evidently missing. The UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This is a post-2015 development agenda and it was adopted in September 2015. With an unprecedented scope and significance, this new action plan has been accepted by all countries and remains applicable to all.
The original 8 in the MDGs turned into 17 goals with 169 targets to be accomplished by 2030.
The came into effect on the 1st of January 2016. Their goal is to have a balance of the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development.
We can see how relevant energy efficiency is to the humanity’s well-being by noting that 5 out of the 17 goals are related to this matter. All of these goals are indivisible and interrelated, for this, we are able to see that the optimised and conscious use of energy has an important impact over different aspects of our lives.
Energy management software is one of the most empowering tools we have to achieve important levels of that very much needed energy efficiency. For this reason, it is one of the most incentivised solutions for everyone to reap the benefits out of monitoring and controlling energy use.
We have separated targets from 5 of the goals in the agenda relating to energy management software.
Relevant targets of SDG 7:
- By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
- By 2030, enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency with advanced and clean fossil-fuel technology, and finally promotion to invest in energy infrastructure and clean energy technology.
- By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programs of support.
For the goal number 7, the greater implementation of energy management software will help in the doubling of the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency by allowing businesses and public institutions to establish baselines of their energy consumption and taking action to reduce it.
Relevant targets of SDG 9:
- By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities.
- Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries,(especially particular developing countries), and encourage innovation. This will substantially increase the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending.
In order to increase the energy efficiency of infrastructure and industries, there must be an appropriate visibility of their energy consumption and uses. Energy management software’s features make it possible for buildings to always be at their most optimal performance. Apart from that, upgrading the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries should include the putting in place of metering systems along with energy management software in order to potentiate their efficient performance.
Relevant targets of SDG 11:
- By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and develop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels.
Energy management software must be made available for as many actors in cities as possible. The more consciously and systematic energy is used, the more we can prevent misusing this resource.
Relevant targets of SDG 12:
- Implement the 10-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption and production. With all countries taking action and developed countries taking the lead, they can take into account the development and capabilities of developing countries.
- By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.
- Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.
- Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities.
- Support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
Responsible consumption and production takes a vigilant position in which managers are always on the look out to avoid wasting resources or performing malfunctions that result in efficiency losses. With a software, there is always a way to know if something goes wrong in order to take timely actions and avoid inefficiencies. In this goal, sustainable practices are encouraged as well as the integration of sustainability information into the reporting cycle. With an energy management software, companies are able to back up all of their sustainable actions and obtain their efficiency achievements in comprehensive and detailed reports.
Relevant targets of SDG 13:
- Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
Awareness-raising is a top priority in our path towards a sustainable future. Having information at hand about our current energy usage and the potential reduction to be achieved helps everyone be in the same page. What an energy management software does is increase visibility at all levels of the organization of energy consumption. This is the agent of change that will make efficiency gains possible.
Start managing your energy now! 15 years is not a long enough time for our beloved world.
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