IRENA Celebrates 5 Years of Advancing the Renewable Energy Solution

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 4 April 2016 – Today marks the fifth anniversary of the formal creation of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), as a fully-fledged intergovernmental organization.

“The past five years have witnessed a dramatic shift in the global energy sector,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “Technology costs of renewables have plummeted, investment is growing year over year and global capacity additions have skyrocketed. Leaders from the public and private sector around the world are committing to renewables over other energy sources in an unprecedented manner. We are truly in the midst of a total transformation of the global energy paradigm.”

In five years, IRENA has expanded its role as the global voice of renewables. It is acknowledged as the lead agency for renewable energy in climate action, with concrete initiatives profiled at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit 2014 and at COP21 in Paris. IRENA was also selected as the Hub for Renewable Energy within the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Last October, the G20 Energy Ministerial adopted an IRENA-led toolkit for renewable energy deployment.

Since 2011, IRENA engagement has grown to more than 175 countries with activities taking place in 90 countries around the world. It has provided advisory support to dozens of countries, assisting them with policy frameworks to scale up renewables. The Agency has become the recognized leader for authoritative knowledge resources on renewable energy costs, resource potentials and employment. IRENA has also developed practical tools such as roadmaps to enable countries to better plan their energy transition. In addition, it has spearheaded several regional initiatives to leverage markets, strengthen collaboration and improve knowledge sharing.

“The growth of IRENA as an Agency is a testament to the strong commitment to renewable energy worldwide,” said Mr. Amin. “IRENA was created to support and accelerate the ongoing global energy transition and the rapid growth potential it offers well into the future.”

Renewable energy has undergone substantial growth in recent years. Examples include:

• The number of countries with national renewable energy targets increased from 73 in 2010 to 164 in 2015.
• Global investment in renewable energy increased from USD 239 billion in 2010 to USD 286 billion in 2015.
• Total installed renewable energy capacity increased from 1,348 GW in 2010 to 1,985 GW in 2015.
• More than 9.2 million people were employed by the entire renewable energy sector in 2014.

“IRENA today is well equipped to support its member countries in this rapidly evolving global transition,” added Mr. Amin.

More statistics from the past five years of renewable energy are available on REsource, IRENA’s online renewable energy knowledge gateway: http://resourceirena.irena.org/gateway/dashboard/

More on the early history of IRENA: Here