IRENA initiates the development of global renewable energy indicators

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) launched an initiative at Rio+20 to develop a set of global renewable energy indicators. The indicators are intended to provide a basis for the deeper understanding of national progress in renewable energy deployment, and effectively support innovation in energy policy frameworks. This new set for measurement will also contribute to the creation of Sustainable Development Goals, which are expected to be the successor to the Millennium Development Goals.

The initiative was announced by IRENA Director-General, Mr. Adnan Z. Amin, at a high-level expert event held on 17 June in Rio de Janeiro. The event was attended by some 20 eminent development and energy experts. Participants included representatives from international organisations such as the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as well as academia and industry including Microsoft and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The purpose of the event was to discuss the needs and scope of national measurement and benchmarking, and identify the common challenges to inducing progressive change in energy policies.
 
“At least 118 countries had renewable energy targets in place by early 2012, but this does not necessarily reflect the levels of investment countries attract. Moving from target-setting to actual deployment of renewable energy technologies requires substantial changes in policy-making, such as subsidy re-allocation and investment in new infrastructure. We need a powerful tool to address the challenges and barriers policy makers, industry and investors are facing. We need to enable national policy makers to understand the steps and progress required to achieve their targets,” explains Mr. Amin about the need of new indicators. “IRENA has a substantial role to play in the future energy debate and in guiding the course of policy development towards a sustainable energy future. We are going to pursue an ambition to make the new indicators as influential as highly acclaimed global indicators, like the Human Development Index.”
 
IRENA has been established to be the “global voice” of renewable energy, and is striving to make a strong and consistent case for renewable energy deployment, and provide timely and solid guidance for policy development. Such efforts need to be backed by the development of a comprehensive information base, and tools for monitoring and analysing trends, practices and impacts. As a key tool for IRENA to fulfill this objective, the indicators will be designed to help governments in assessing the progress, effectiveness and efficiency of policies and programmes relating to and affecting renewable energy deployment.  

The renewable energy indicators will be developed by 2014, in partnership with other international agencies and relevant organisations. Based on the feedback received during this event in Rio de Janeiro, a concept note, including a list of partners, a development strategy and a timetable will be developed in the coming months. Working groups of practitioners from partner institutions will be established to develop the indicator set and a methodology for measurement and data collection. Pilot testing of the indicators will be carried out in several countries, before the full-scale studies are conducted, with the results published regularly.