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The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of
renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
. It is the first international organisation to focus exclusively on renewable energy, addressing needs in both industrialised and developing countries. It was founded in 2009 and its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010. The agency is headquartered in
Masdar City Masdar City ( ar, مدينة مصدر, Madīnat Maṣdar, lit=Source City) is a planned city project in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is being built by Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority ...
,
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...
. The Director-General of IRENA is
Francesco La Camera Francesco La Camera is an Italian civil servant, academic, diplomat who was elected the second Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and assumed office on 4 April 2019. At the IRENA, he has a four-year ten ...
, a national of Italy. IRENA is an official
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
observer.


History

The first suggestions for an international renewable agency is based on the 1980 Brandt Report activities. NGOs and industry lobbying groups like
Eurosolar Eurosolar - European Association for Renewable Energies (Own spelling: EUROSOLAR) is a German association with headquarters in Bonn. The association has sections in 13 countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, ...
, the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) and the
World Wind Energy Association The World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) is an international non-profit association representing the wind power sector worldwide, with members in 100 countries, amongst them the leading national and regional wind energy associations. The organisa ...
have promoted IRENA since several decades. In 1990, the Austrian government of
Franz Vranitzky Franz Vranitzky (; born 4 October 1937) is an Austrian politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), he was Chancellor of Austria from 1986 to 1997. Early life and career As the son of a foundryman, Vranitzky was born in ...
suggested a reneweables agency to the UN. One of the drivers was
Hermann Scheer Hermann Scheer (29 April 1944 – 14 October 2010) was a Social Democrat member of the German Bundestag (parliament), President of Eurosolar (European Association for Renewable Energy) and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Ene ...
, a German politician and lobbyist which was acting as president of
EUROSOLAR Eurosolar - European Association for Renewable Energies (Own spelling: EUROSOLAR) is a German association with headquarters in Bonn. The association has sections in 13 countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, ...
and chair of WCRE.The long Road to IRENA- A chronology, by Hermann Scheer
On 15 June, at their annual event, the WWEA gave their 2010 World Wind Energy Award to the Founding member States of IRENA. They stated: "The creation of IRENA can be seen as the most important decision ever taken on the global level in favour of renewable energy. The founding of IRENA sent out a very strong signal to the world community that renewable energy will have to play and will play a key role in the future energy supply all over the world. With the Award, WWEA would also like to indicate that WWEA is committed to work closely with IRENA and will continue to give its full support." Since 1981, several meetings took place to discuss the formation of IRENA. The Preparatory Conference for founding IREA was held on 10 and 11 April 2008 with 54 countries participating. Here, government representatives discussed the objectives, activities, finances, and organizational structure of IRENA. Participants expressed a need to begin a swift transition to a more secure, sustainable renewable energy economy with the assistance of an international body. The Founding Conference of the International Renewable Energy Agency was held in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
, Germany, on 26 January 2009. 75 countries signed the Agency's statute. The statute entered into force on 8 July 2010, 30 days after the 25th country deposited its instrument of ratification. The Founding Conference established the Preparatory Commission for IRENA, which consists of all signatory states. During the first session of the Preparatory Commission in Bonn on 27 January 2009, the signatory countries adopted criteria and procedures for selecting IRENA's Interim Director-General and its interim headquarters. An Administrative Committee was created to assist the commission in preparing its second session. The Administrative Committee prepared draft proposals for an interim work programme and budget as well as for interim staff regulations and interim financial rules. Nominations for the Interim Director-General and the interim headquarters were submitted by 30 April 2009. The second session of the Preparatory Commission met in
Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,6 ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
, on 29–30 June 2009, to elect the Interim Director General and decide the location of IRENA's interim headquarters. It was decided, that the interim headquarters will be located in
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dha ...
,
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
. The UAE thus became the first developing country to host a major international organisation. In addition, an innovation and technology center will be located in Bonn, and an office dedicated to liaising with the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
and other international institutions will be located in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
.
Hélène Pelosse Hélène Pelosse (born 5 March 1970) was the first elected Interim Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). She served in this position for 15 months, from 30 June 2009 until 19 October 2010. Pelosse is a citizen o ...
was elected as the Interim Director-General. The second session of the Preparatory Commission also adopted an interim work programme and budget as well as for interim staff regulations and interim financial rules. The fourth session of the Preparatory Commission on 24–25 October 2010 in Abu Dhabi appointed Kenyan representative Adnan Amin, Deputy Interim Director-General, to perform functions of Interim Director-General after resignation of Hélène Pelosse. On 4 April 2011, Adnan Amin was sworn in as the first Director-General. The agency has staged a number of events bringing together member states for interaction on ways and means of furthering renewable energy, and conducted significant research and development into viable solutions for the future. On 8 September 2014, IRENA published a notable report on its works titled ''REthinking energy'', which encouraged "speedier adoption of renewable energy technologies," as "the most feasible route to reduce carbon emissions and avoid catastrophic climate change." The study set out to gauge the global power sector and establish how technological advances, economic growth and climate change are transforming it. "A convergence of social, economic and environmental forces are transforming the global energy system as we know it. But if we continue on the path we are currently on and fuel our growing economies with outmoded ways of thinking and acting, we will not be able avoid the most serious impacts of climate change," Amin said at a function to release the report. The Ninth Meeting of International Renewable Energy Agency Council was held on 10–11 June 2015 at Abu Dhabi.


Aims

IRENA aims to become the main driving force in promoting a transition towards the use of renewable energy on a global scale:
Acting as the global voice for renewable energies, IRENA will provide practical advice and support for both industrialised and developing countries, help them improve their regulatory frameworks and build capacity. The agency will facilitate access to all relevant information including reliable data on the potential of renewable energy, best practices, effective financial mechanisms and state-of-the-art technological expertise.
IRENA provides advice and support to governments on
renewable energy policy Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include ...
, capacity building, and technology transfer. IRENA will also co-ordinate with existing renewable energy organizations, such as
REN21 REN21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century) is a think tank and a multistakeholder governance group which is focused on renewable energy policy. REN21's goal is to facilitate policy development, knowledge exchange, and joint a ...
.


Member states

The statute to gain IRENA membership requires that a state be a member of the United Nations and to regional intergovernmental economic-integration organizations. States that gain membership to IRENA must uphold the organizations statute to the best of its abilities. On 9 January 2019, Canada became IRENA's 160th member. As of July 2022, 168 states and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
are members of IRENA, and a further 16 are in the process of accession.


Institutional structure


The Assembly

This assembly is IRENA's main institutional governing body, which includes one delegate from each member state. The assembly meets once yearly to discuss all IRENA management including things such as budget, membership applications and yearly goals. The 9th Assembly took place in January 2019 with the 10th Assembly scheduled for 11–12 January in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.


The Council

The IRENA council is composed of 21 elected officials from member states, who each serve for two-year terms and must answer to the assembly. Council members rotate between states to ensure an efficient and fair representation of various member country sizes, geographic location, rates of development and particular concerns. The council deals directly with IRENA matters related to budgeting and annual reports.


The Secretariat

The Secretariat is the executive branch of IRENA and consists of the Director-General and their staff. The Secretariat acts as oversight to the council and assembly and offers technical support to these governing bodies. The current of Director-General of IRENA is the Italian
Francesco La Camera Francesco La Camera is an Italian civil servant, academic, diplomat who was elected the second Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and assumed office on 4 April 2019. At the IRENA, he has a four-year ten ...
who was appointed to the position during IRENA's Ninth Assembly and assumed office on 4 April 2019. IRENA's first Director-General was
Adnan Z. Amin Adnan Z. Amin (born 1957) is a Kenyan diplomat and a development economist with a specialty in sustainable development. He served as the first Director-General of the Abu Dhabi-based intergovernmental organisation, the International Renewable En ...
, a Kenyan national. He was elected to the post in April 2011 and completed a second term that ended April 2019. Afterwards, he was accorded Amin the honorary title of ''Director-General Emeritus''. Along with his work as Secretariat, Amin also served as the Director of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) at their New York office and as Special Representative of the UNEP Executive Director where he played a crucial role in reviewing international governance and his organizations participation at the World Summit of Sustainable Development. During his time as Director General of IRENA, the organization was involved in the implementation of policies such as the Paris Agreement, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the G7 and G20. IRENA's membership also grew to include nearly all countries world-wide.


United Nations

Hélène Pelosse, former Interim Director General of IRENA, met with UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Ministe ...
during 2009 Climate week in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and together with Ban explored future fields of cooperation between IRENA and various UN bodies. IRENA also seeks to cooperate with the UN and associated organisations like the
United Nations University The (UNU) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve global issues related to human development and welfare thr ...
, UNESCO, the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
, GEF,
UNIDO The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...
,
UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
,
UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...
, and WTO in the areas of education and training, financing, access to energy, potential studies and trade.


See also

*
American Council on Renewable Energy Founded in 2001, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is a member-based, 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that unites finance, policy and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. ACORE's member ...
( ACORE) *
Energy development Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse ...
*
Energy Sector Management Assistance Program Interact with our program: https://www.esmap.org/node/70853 ESMAP was established in 1983 in response to the global energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an econo ...
(ESMAP) *
International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing car ...
* International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation * International Renewable Energy Conference * Hans Jørgen Koch * Lists about renewable energy *
REEEP The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) is a Vienna-baseinternational organisation (link in German)that advances markets for renewable energy and energy efficiency with a particular emphasis on the emerging markets and de ...
*
Renewable energy commercialization Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include b ...
*
Renewable energy in the European Union Renewable energy plays an important and growing role in the energy system of the European Union. The Europe 2020 strategy included a target of reaching 20% of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, and at least 32% by 20 ...
* Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation *
Repower America The Climate Reality Project is a non-profit organization involved in education and advocacy related to climate change. The Climate Reality Project came into being in July 2011 as the consolidation of two environmental groups, the Alliance for Cli ...
* Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) * United Nations Environment Organization


References


Further reading

*
Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2017
' (2018) by IRENA *'' Clean Tech Nation: How the U.S. Can Lead in the New Global Economy'' (2012) by
Ron Pernick Ron Pernick is an American author and the co-founder and managing director of Clean Edge, a developer and publisher of thematic stock indexes tracking clean energy, transportation, water, and the grid. He is an accomplished market research, publish ...
and
Clint Wilder Clint Wilder is a business journalist who has covered the high-tech and clean-tech industries since 1985. Biography Clint Wilder is senior editor at Clean Edge, a clean-tech research and strategy firm in the San Francisco Bay Area and Portlan ...
*''
Deploying Renewables 2011 ''Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future Policy Practice'' is a 2011 book by the International Energy Agency. The book analyses the recent successes in renewable energy, which now accounts for almost a fifth of all electricity produced worl ...
'' (2011) by the
International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing car ...
*'' Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era'' (2011) by
Amory Lovins Amory Bloch Lovins (born November 13, 1947) is an American writer, physicist, and former chairman/chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has written on energy policy and related areas for four decades, and served on the US Nationa ...
*'' Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation'' (2011) by the
IPCC The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ...
*''
Solar Energy Perspectives ''Solar Energy Perspectives'' is a 2011 book by the International Energy Agency. Solar energy technologies come in various forms – solar heating, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity – and can make considerable contributions to sol ...
'' (2011) by the
International Energy Agency The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation, established in 1974, that provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector, with a recent focus on curbing car ...


External links

* {{Authority control International Renewable Energy Agency International Renewable Energy Agency Renewable energy policy Intergovernmental organizations established by treaty