The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will house the secretariat of the recently-formed International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the only international organization of governments dedicated to promoting renewable energy in their member countries.
Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, which was designed to be the world’s first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city powered entirely by renewable energy, will house IRENA after a strong bid from the UAE.
IRENA was officially founded on January 26, 2009 to act as an “institutional counterbalance” to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the International Energy Agency.
Initiated by the German government and parliament member and advocate Hermann Shceer, IRENA’s founding members include Germany, France, India, Egypt, and the UAE itself, among 70 other countries. IRENA’s current membership is 136, with the newest members including African nations, Japan, and the US.
It is the first time an international organization has chosen a Middle East city for its headquarters. For its bid, the UAE committed a grant of $136 million for the organization over a six-year period. UAE will also cover IRENA’s operational costs in perpetuity. In addition, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development created an endowment of up to $50 million annually to be used for loans in support of renewable energy projects in the developing world.
IRENA’s location is also seen as bridging developing and developed countries.
IRENA was created mainly to give practical and educational advice to governments in renewable energy deployment programs free of vested interests. The organization is where governments are expected to turn to for “an accepted set of answers” on renewable energy promotion.
"This has been a tremendous educational experience, and has strengthened bonds with our IRENA co-members that will allow us to collectively advance the benefits of renewable energy on all continents," said Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar and a key architect of the UAE's bid.
International renewables agency chooses headquarters
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