The 8th meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Council was held from 3-4 November, in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to provide guidance to the Agency's programmes and activities, and decide on the agenda for the IRENA Assembly in 2015.
The Council also discussed strategies to increase the Agency's engagement in global climate action, and received three new permanent representatives.
4 November 2014: The 8th meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Council convened from 3-4 November, in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to provide guidance to the Agency’s programmes and activities, and to decide on the agenda for the IRENA Assembly in 2015. The Council also discussed strategies to increase the Agency’s engagement in global climate action, and received three new permanent representatives.
Representatives from 90 IRENA member countries met to review and recommend actions to scale up renewable energy globally. On IRENA’s engagement in the global effort to address climate change, the Council noted the demonstrations of support received during the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, held in September in New York, US, to IRENA’s two key renewable energy initiatives, the Africa Clean Energy Corridor and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Lighthouse Initiative. The role of renewables in the forthcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Peru, in December 2014, was also highlighted.
Pointing toward the recommendation by the Synthesis Report (SYR) of the 5th Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), launched on 2 November, to decarbonize the global energy mix by 2100, IRENA Director-General Adnan Amin stated that “any solution to address climate change requires a massive scale-up in renewable energy.” He pointed out that renewable energy, combined with energy efficiency, can keep global temperature rise below the 2°C limit in an affordable manner.
During the Council meeting, IRENA Director-General Amin also received diplomatic credentials from new permanent representatives to IRENA from Antigua and Barbuda, Sierra Leone and Uruguay, raising the number of accredited permanent representatives to 26.
IRENA’s Council, accountable to the Assembly and meeting semiannually, has 21 rotating members and, inter alia, considers the draft work programme, draft budget and annual report, and facilitates consultations and cooperation among IRENA members. The IRENA Assembly, which meets once a year, will hold its next meeting from 17-18 January in Abu Dhabi, UAE. [IRENA Press Release] [IISD RS Stories on the IRENA Council] [IISD RS Story on IRENA Initiatives in Africa and the SIDS]