NINA NETZER| A GLOBAL GREEN NEW DEAL negotiations over a global and legally binding climate agreement have been dragging along at the interna­tional level, a whole host of political, economic and informational measures can be witnessed in indivi­dual countries which seek to promote the expansion of renewable energies or an increase in energy effici ­ency through laws and regulations or through massive public and private investment in green infrastructures or technological development. In addition to climate protection, national motives frequently include a di­versification of national energy sources and a reduc ­tion in dependence on energy imports, exploitation of new markets and satisfying national energy demand. In addition to providing the funding and investment in research and development(R&D) needed to develop sustainable technologies, products and infrastructures, measures at the national level can be broken down into the three mechanisms of political regulation , econo­mic incentives and information : these include vari­ous regulative elements such as laws, guidelines and standards, economic incentives structures such as taxes or subsidies, and information tools such as product la­belling, certification systems, campaigns or demonstra ­tion projects. Political regulation In many countries there are examples of laws, guide­lines or action plans which aim to increase the percen­tage of renewable energies to boost energy efficiency. These range from model statutory initiatives such as the German Renewable Energies Act, which has crea­ted new jobs and generated economic profits through the promotion of renewable energies, all the way to controversial policies and guidelines encouraging bio fuels such as the programme of the Brazilian govern ­ment to substitute ethanol produced from sugar cane for petrol or statutory regulations in the EU or the USA making it binding for a certain percentage of bio fuels to be mixed in petrol and diesel. Additional examples of regulative activities in the area of renewable energies and energy efficiency can also be found in Asia: India is currently establishing a fixed quota of renewable ener ­gies for electricity generation in the national energy supply; in China building standards for new buildings are being introduced in order to encourage energy ef­ficiency in the building sector and thus save energy and emissions. Economic incentives In actual practice, one frequently encounters a mixture of various instruments, usually political regulation in con­nection with economic instruments. One example is the Tunisian Solar Energy Plan, which is aimed at reducing the dependency of this country on oil and gas through the promotion of renewable energies. This is based on statutory initiatives providing for subsidisation of up to 20 % of the costs of energy-saving measures such as, for example, the purchase of solar-powered water hea­ters. The energy-saving measures of the government, in which USD 200 million was invested by the government at the beginning, have already generated savings to a tune of USD 1.1 billion. Another possibility which is now being used by well over 20 states from Algeria to Kenya is electricity grid feed-in tariffs, obligating power com­panies or producers to purchase a certain percentage of energy from renewable sources in order to boost in­vestment in this sector. In addition to statutory quotas and electricity grid feed-in tariffs, economic instruments such as tax breaks or subsidies are already being used in practice in some countries in order to create incen­tives to raise the percentage of renewable energies or boost energy efficiency. In China, for example, financial support is provided by the government for the refur­bishment of existing buildings or tax breaks offered to companies to encourage energy-efficient building. An­other possibility to steer energy consumption by means of market mechanisms is progressive power prices such as in Japan or Korea: the greater the consumption, the more a kilowatt hour of power costs. Information instruments In addition to political and economic instruments, in many countries a wide range of information instru­ments ranging from labels, certification systems and campaigns all the way to major demonstration projects have been used. Examples include the Chinese Building Energy Efficiency Label, which has been mandatory for government and large public buildings since 2008, or the energy audits for government buildings in India. More­over, a host of low-carbon cities are being built as de­monstration projects for low-emissions urban planning such as Masdar City in Abu Dhabi – a city producing zero CO 2 emissions which is to house 50,000 people. Non­governmental organisations also frequently play an im­3