10 years of EKOenergy

10 years of climate action

In 2013, two small non-profit ecolabels for renewable energy, the Norppa label from Finland and 100% Energia Verde from Italy, amalgamated into an international label called “EKOenergy”. The British National Energy Agency, which had launched the Green Energy Certified label in the UK, also became a supporter of the EKOenergy label and joined the EKOenergy network soon after.

Since then, we have used our ecolabel to promote climate action and nature protection. The EKOenergy ecolabel has been helping consumers of all sizes since its launch to identify renewable energy products that fulfil additional sustainability criteria. By choosing EKOenergy-labelled energy, consumers contribute to renewable energy projects being built in developing countries and support EKOenergy’s advocacy work to promote the use of renewables worldwide.

Concrete achievements

Here are 6 of EKOenergy’s achievements we are particularly proud of:

  • Our work has helped make renewable energy contracts available worldwide, in particular through our involvement in the development of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2 Guidance, our pioneering work on corporate sourcing together with CDP, our cooperation with the I-REC Standard Foundation, and our contacts with local partners worldwide.
  • We managed to develop from a small initiative with very limited resources into a self-sustained and growing ecolabel bringing about concrete positive impact.
  • We granted 2.2 million euros to renewable energy projects in developing countries and 400,000 to river restoration projects, making a concrete and tangible contribution to the realisation of multiple Sustainable Development Goals. Our contribution to the implementation of SDG 7 (Clean and affordable energy) is now an Energy Compact under UN-Energy.
  • Our work appeals to consumers of all kinds and sizes: From users of on-site produced solar energy in Ecuador, Peru and Uganda to 16 large corporates who joined the RE100, the number of consumers using EKOenergy continues to increase worldwide.
  • We managed to improve and streamline our processes year after year, allowing us to deal with complex procedures in a pragmatic way and enabling us to label growing volumes each year while guaranteeing the highest level of quality.
  • We gave opportunities to 150 young people from 23 countries to participate in the activities of our secretariat and learn about the link between renewable energy and climate action. 77 of them came through the European Solidarity Corps.

Thank you for all of this!

None of our achievements would have been possible without our numerous supporters as well as our authorised sellers, the consumers who trust our work and choose EKOenergy-labelled energy, as well as colleagues from other environmental organisations.

The next 10 years are crucial in the fight against climate change and only a massive deployment of renewable energy can keep global warming under control. We will strive to make a difference in this important time for our planet and encourage others to do the same.

Published: 23 February 2023