51 Countries to Form International Agency Promoting Renewable Energy
51 countries have signed an agreement to form an international agency to support renewable energy development.
If it seems like the world is rallying around renewable energy, that’s because it is. And why not? With huge recent fluctuations in oil prices, the economy on its knees, and climate change at our doorstep, windmills and solar panels have become iconic symbols of energy independence, a new green-collar job sector, and a response to climate change. Now, an international agency is emerging to lead the charge on a global scale.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will integrate regional clean energy progress into a coordinated, global effort. It will provide political recommendations and identify funding for renewable technologies. Moreover, IRENA will seek to even the playing field for countries that have had difficulty affording investment in renewable energy. To this end, the agency will fund its budget with contributions by member-countries on a sliding scale with unindustrialized countries paying less.
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“Acting as the global voice for renewable energies,” says the agency’s website, “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.”
The agreement recently signed in Madrid signaled a successful Final Preparatory Conference, the second in a series of three rapid steps taken to establish IRENA. Earlier this year, wind energy rich Germany got the ball rolling with an invitation to 60 countries to meet at the Preparatory Conference in Berlin. The third and final step needed to establish the agency, the Founding Conference, is slated for January 26, 2009. Due to the enormity of the challenge of developing renewable energy infrastructures around the world and the urgency of curbing climate change, the nascent agency plans to begin operating immediately after it is founded.
View a PDF list of the participating countries.
I am thinking of installing solar panels at home once their price get a bit lower.
Here’s a resource worth taking a look into for anyone in the USA considering solar panels: http://www.renewzle.com/start
It is a great thing to see so many nations in support of developing renewable energy. It is going to be a global effort if we want to end our dependency on oil and put up a fight against global warming.
Wind power is sustainable, clean power. You get what you see and what you pay for up front - no hidden costs for spent fuel disposal! How the individual American choses to use that power is another thing. Americans will have to “adjust” the “American Dream” to more closely fit reality! we need more efficient refrigerators in our homes. We need to put more cost-effective sewage disposal systems on the law books - Composting over septic for example – we must preserve topsoil. We need to outlaw all other than LED lights to bring their price down! We need to better develop microwave cooking at solar and wind supplied voltages. We need to use the power from windmills in the least wasteful fashion! Our environment is collapsing under the pressure of our upper-class high flying lifestyles and we will pay with lead, cadmium selenium and mercury poisoning, dead lakes, dying forests and sick populations, unemployment and grinding poverty for many while a few enjoy riches. We are not living in sustainable fashion, and adding a few windmills to the horizons will not redeem us. The paradigm shift brought on by the depression now upon us, will chastise us and purify us to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, where wind mills will be a respected source of power, and pig farms will no longer smell, but produce usable methane and clean fertilizers – this is not a dream land, this is the reality available to Americans once we unhook from our current direction! We will unhook, the great depression will guarantee it!
hope they do more than talk about it for the next decade
I have just taken your suggestion to visit the IRENA website and read their brochure detailing their operating plan. I was curious to see a list of countries which have thus far signed up, which is provided therein. Some oil producing nations which have joined up are Germany, the U.K., Denmark, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Countries I would like to see on the list are Russia, China, U.S.A., Venezuela and Canada. These and others do belong in various capacities to the U.N. and related organizations concerned with econimic and energy development. International relations policies will play a crucial role in the success of policies developed by this and other existing groups. Kudos to the leadership of Germany, as a strong economic power in Europe in taking this initiative. Every positive step will elevate awareness and efforts to meet our environmental challenges.