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28.01.2009: IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) is reality
On 26 January 2009, 75 countries signed the statute in Bonn
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) truly came into being on January 26, 2009 at the Founding Conference of IRENA in Bonn. More than 120 government delegations from across the world attended the conference and a total of 75 nations, a broad cross-section of developing and industrialized countries, signed the Agency’s statute. Many others expressed their strong commitment to IRENA’s goals and their intention to join in the near future. The conference was chaired by Germany's Federal Environment Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, and Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. As Denmark and Spain from the outset had actively supported the preparation together with Germany, the respective Ministers, Connie Hedegaard (Danish Minister for Climate and Energy) and Miguel Sebastián Gascón (Spanish Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism) were elected Vice-Chairs.
The founding of IRENA is a milestone on the road towards a future-oriented energy supply. It is a clear sign that the global energy paradigm is changing and that more and more governments are committed to accelerating that shift.
Among the 75 founding countries are many European countries, including
France, Italy and Poland, and many developing nations from Africa, such
as Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, from Asia, like the Republic of Corea and
the Philippines, and from Latin America, including Guatemala, Chile and
Argentina (download
the list of Signatory States here).
Keeping up the great momentum that had been generated, the Agency began
its work only one day after the Founding Conference, on January 27, 2009.
At the first session of the Preparatory Commission the Signatories adopted
criteria and procedures for selecting IRENA’s interim Director-General
and its interim headquarters and invited the members to put forward candidatures
by 30th April 2009.. They also created the institutional framework that
will allow IRENA to embark on first elements of its working programme.
The Preparatory Commission welcomed the invitation of Egypt to host the
next session, planed for June 2009, where decisions will be taken on the
Agency’s interim Director-General and interim headquarters.
The aim of the new Agency is to work throughout the world to close the
gap that exists between the enormous potential of renewables and their
current relatively low market share in energy consumption. IRENA is the
first international organisation to focus exclusively on the issue of
renewable energies, addressing both the industrialized and the developing
world. The main work of IRENA will be to advise its members on creating
the right frameworks, building capacity, and improving financing and the
transfer of technology and know-how for renewable energies. IRENA seeks
to cooperate closely with other international organisations and institutions
active in the field of renewable energy.
Further information:
"We are laying the foundation today" - please download the statement of Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel, Germany, here.
"IRENA has been founded" - please download
the statement of Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Federal Minister for Economic
Cooperation and Development, Germany, here.
Source: www.irena.org/foundingcon.htm