WATCH: Industrial energy efficiency explained

There is a simple and cost effective way to cut industry’s production costs – by up to 30 percent! When a lot of industries use it, national grids are under less pressure. This means better energy security, improving peoples’ lives, especially for women in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

With industries pumping out 33% of our climate-warming gasses, if most used this tried and tested approach, we would have a better chance to beat the climate crisis. At UNIDO, we like to call it the invisible solution – or, simply, turning off industrial energy waste. After all, the cleanest and cheapest energy is the energy that we don’t use.

This may involve simple things like replacing a leaky boiler or making sure that electrical motors are running efficiently. But, it could also mean shifts in a company’s culture or strategic investments in new technologies. By making industrial energy use more efficient, we have the potential to save a staggering 40 percent of the power used by industries today.

Imagine what this could mean for production costs, our global CO2 budget, energy security for communities and countries, as well as human health. In developing countries that are home to large and growing industrial sectors, UNIDO is working with the public sector to change policy, with industry to change practice, and the finance sector to fund efficiency.