Sustainability, climate change and energy efficiency

Abstract

The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development are based on the need to take environmental values into account in the process of economic growth. Issues such as the protection of scarce resources, their efficient use and their optimal distribution between generations form the basic idea of sustainable development. The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development arise from the need to consider environmental values in the process of economic growth. The basic principles of sustainable development include the conservation of scarce resources, their efficient use and their equitable distribution between generations. Energy efficiency is particularly important in this context. Efficiency is not only a concept used in processes such as engineering, product development or design. It is also used in many areas such as organization, management, economics and policy making. There is a growing consensus that energy efficiency has a far greater economic, environmental and social impact than energy conservation. Energy efficiency means using less energy to produce the same amount of goods or services. On the other hand, doing more with the same amount of energy is also efficient. In this context, the aim of this chapter is to show these relationships for the G20 countries using data envelopment analysis and panel data methods.