Measuring multiple benefits by equipping yourself with indicators
Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 8:20 am
Erected alongside energy efficiency, renewables and nuclear power as one of the four major pillars of the French energy strategy, energy sobriety nevertheless sees its potential remain largely underexploited. Although omnipresent in political discourse when it comes to overcoming an exogenous shock (oil shock of the 1970s, recent gas shock leading to the energy crisis), its promotion fades concomitantly with the resolution of difficulties. In order to make energy sobriety a matrix in its own right of France's decarbonization strategy, it is important to move from a crisis management policy to a long-term political management, allowing sobriety to be structurally sustainable.
Three elements are essential to afghanistan phone number list successfully achieve this transition: the need to equip ourselves with indicators to monitor and quantify the multiple benefits generated by sobriety, the interest in using a legislative approach to encourage its promotion and the need to see public and private actors demonstrate unfailing voluntarism and exemplarity.
Energy sobriety is not limited to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also generates multiple co-benefits, in terms of savings, public health, or even security, which should be quantified in order to guide public decision-making. Lower gas consumption in France would reduce the cost of imports, which would have gone from €8 billion in 2019 to €46 billion in 2022. Reducing pollutant emissions could prevent thousands of premature deaths linked to pollution each year. Lower consumption of resources (critical materials, rare earths, etc.) would reduce our dependence on foreign powers.
Thus, these benefits must be systematically measured through indicators assessing the overall impact of the measures deployed. Regular monitoring would make it possible to justify long-term investments and better guide political decisions . It would avoid the pitfalls of short-term choices, given that the return on investment of sobriety policies is more diffuse.
Three elements are essential to afghanistan phone number list successfully achieve this transition: the need to equip ourselves with indicators to monitor and quantify the multiple benefits generated by sobriety, the interest in using a legislative approach to encourage its promotion and the need to see public and private actors demonstrate unfailing voluntarism and exemplarity.
Energy sobriety is not limited to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It also generates multiple co-benefits, in terms of savings, public health, or even security, which should be quantified in order to guide public decision-making. Lower gas consumption in France would reduce the cost of imports, which would have gone from €8 billion in 2019 to €46 billion in 2022. Reducing pollutant emissions could prevent thousands of premature deaths linked to pollution each year. Lower consumption of resources (critical materials, rare earths, etc.) would reduce our dependence on foreign powers.
Thus, these benefits must be systematically measured through indicators assessing the overall impact of the measures deployed. Regular monitoring would make it possible to justify long-term investments and better guide political decisions . It would avoid the pitfalls of short-term choices, given that the return on investment of sobriety policies is more diffuse.