6 April 2011: As an input to the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), held on 6-7 April 2011 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the International Energy Agency (IEA) has published its first “Clean Energy Progress Report,” assessing global deployment of clean energy technologies and recommending actions for their promotion.

The report opens by noting that, although progress on clean energy has been great over recent years, demand for fossil fuels is “outstripping deployment of clean energy technologies.” It argues that to counteract this trend, more long term, predicable and aggressive clean energy policies are needed, and fossil fuel subsidies must be phased out. Specifically, the Progress Report provides overviews of policy developments, and public spending on research, development, demonstration and deployment of clean energy technologies, which include renewable energies, nuclear power, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). It also overviews the deployment of these technologies.

Key recommendations to energy ministers formulated in the report include: work with IEA to track and share data on technology deployment and policy implementation; identify promising technologies and develop projects to map technology areas; engage the corporate sector on best practices; and use the Clean Energy Ministerial as a platform to make shared government and corporate pledges on clean energy. [IEA Press Release] [Publication: Clean Energy Progress Report]