Energy efficiency can sometimes be overlooked as a way of tackling climate change amid the enthusiasm for electric vehicles and renewables. But simply reducing the amount of energy required to achieve the same ends is a hugely effective tool in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The least polluting form of energy is, after all, the energy we do not use.
Investment in energy efficiency faltered in the pandemic. As energy prices dropped, so did the incentive to use less of it. At the same time, businesses struggling to stay afloat cut spending. The International Energy Agency says this trend is especially worrying because energy efficiency is expected to deliver more than 40 per cent of the required cuts in energy-related greenhouse gas emissions over the next
