Terms and Conditions

Last updated on: 6 Dec 2022

The use of the website www.irena.org (the “Website”) and of the IRENA-owned content and/or official documents therein (“IRENA’s Content”), in whichever form displayed or presented, whether digital or printed, is governed by these terms and conditions (the “Terms and Conditions”).

The information presented on the Website and the IRENA’s Content is available for informative purposes only.

By accessing the Website and/or using IRENA’s Content, the users (hereinafter referred to as “Users” or “You”) acknowledge to have fully read and understood these Terms and Conditions and agree to be bound by them.

1. Scope of application

1.1 The Terms and Conditions set out herein apply to the official main website of IRENA i.e. www.irena.org, and to all the associated IRENA sub-domains ending with irena.org (.org being the top-level domain and irena the second-level domain). IRENA sub-domains pertain to platforms and tools developed by IRENA (collectively referred to as the “IRENA’s Platforms and Tools”), including without limitation the IRENASTAT, Data Query tools, Global Atlas for Renewable Energy, SolarCity Simulator, Bioenergy Simulator, SPLAT model and the Flextool.

1.2 The Website also includes initiatives established by IRENA jointly with other international organizations, entities and/or countries (the “Initiatives”). Such Initiatives include but are not limited to www.globalgeothermalalliance.org, https://etafplatform.org/, http://www.geopoliticsofrenewables.org/, http://sejplatform.org/, https://opensolarcontracts.org/, https://renewables4climate.org/.

1.3 These Terms and Conditions shall apply to the Website, the IRENA’s Platforms and Tools and the Initiatives provided that no specific terms of use apply to them. In the event that specific terms of use have been attached to the IRENA’s Platforms and Tools or to the Initiative/s, such specific terms of use shall prevail in case of discrepancies with the Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions shall complement those specific terms of use on matters not covered by them.

2. Acceptable use

2.1 You agree that access and/or use of the Website will be in compliance with the present Terms and Conditions and that you shall not, or attempt to:

i. take any action that causes, or may cause, damage to, or impair the performance, availability, accessibility, or security of the Website or that causes unreasonable inconvenience or offence or disruption to IRENA staff or to other Users;

ii. use the Website in any way that is unlawful, illegal or fraudulent, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal or fraudulent purpose or activity;

iii. use the Website and/or IRENA’s Content in any way that may be harmful for IRENA or in detriment of IRENA’s image, reputation or work;

iv. upload or otherwise transmit harmful material through the Website, including but not limited to information or software containing a virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other damaging or destructive component, or link to such harmful material;

v. access or otherwise interact with the Website using any robot, spider or other automated means;

vi. upload, store or otherwise transmit any inappropriate content or spam, or undertake, or attempt to undertake, any fraudulent activities;

vii. reproduce, modify, adapt, merge, translate, disassemble, decompile, recompile or reverse engineer any software, source code, or other code or scripts forming part of the Website; or,

viii. change, modify, delete, interfere with or misuse information contained in the Website and/or attempt to disaggregate any data, material or statistics generated through any of IRENA’s Platforms and Tools and/or Initiatives facilitated therein.

2.2 For site security purposes, including to identify unauthorised access to the Website and any use thereof in breach of these Terms and Conditions, IRENA reserves the right, through the use of software programmes or otherwise, to monitor the use of the Website, and to provide Users’ information relating to suspected unlawful, improper or inappropriate conduct to the competent authorities. On this matter, please also refer to the Privacy Policy set out in Section 9 below.

3. Users accounts, usernames and password

3.1 To access certain pages and features of the Website, You will be requested to create a username and/or to complete an account registration process. By doing so, You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information as prompted in the relevant registration form. You may periodically update such information as necessary, to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. All information provided by the Users in any registration process will be governed by the Privacy Policy set out in Section 9 below.

3.2 You shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your username and password for any account created on the Website. You shall also be responsible for all activities that may take place through the use of your username and password. Please notify IRENA as soon as possible of any unauthorized use of your password and/or username or of any other breach of security that you become aware of.

3.3 IRENA reserves its right to, at its sole discretion, and with or without notice, modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website or any part thereof, including any pages or features for which You created an account. IRENA also reserves its right to, at its sole discretion, and with or without notice, terminate your account or to restrict your access to the Website, or any part thereof.

4. Intellectual property rights

4.1 Subject to article 4.3 below, Users may freely access, copy, share, download, reproduce, print and/or view IRENA’s Content for non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate attribution is given to IRENA. Use of IRENA’s name in the full or abbreviated form is allowed for attribution purposes, in accordance with this Section and the Terms and Conditions. Use of IRENA’s logo in connection with such attribution is expressly prohibited without IRENA’s prior authorization. No other use shall be made of IRENA’s Content without IRENA’s advanced written permission.

4.2 You shall not represent nor imply that IRENA has participated in, endorsed or otherwise supported your use or reproduction of IRENA’s Content. Moreover, You shall not claim or imply an affiliation or connection with IRENA. For more information about the use of IRENA’s name, abbreviation thereof and/or logo, please refer to Section 6 below.

4.3 The publication and dissemination by the User of an entire report, article, publication or paper copyrighted by IRENA (collectively referred to as “Publications”) or any information and extracts contained in the Publications (including but not limited to images, graphs, maps or tables), and translations thereof, shall be subject to the copyright notice and terms of use introduced in the Publication/s concerned.

4.4 Content on the Website or in the Publications which is attributed to third parties is subject to third-party copyrights and separate terms and conditions of use. The User must use such content in accordance with the applicable third-party’s restrictions and terms of use. Permission from the copyrights’ owner to use the relevant material may be required. The User is liable for any infringement claims of intellectual property rights or proprietary rights in relation to his/her use of such third-party material.

4.5 If You wish to use IRENA’s Content for purposes other than those set out in this Section 4 or have queries in this regard, please contact info@irena.org.

5. Links

Hyperlinks to the Website may be created subject to IRENA’s authorization. Authorization requests should be sent to info@irena.org.

6. Use of IRENA’s name and logo

6.1 Unless authorised in writing by IRENA or as indicated in these Terms and Conditions, you shall not use, in any manner whatsoever, the name and marks “International Renewable Energy Agency”, “IRENA”, and all variations thereof, including its associated logos (collectively “IRENA’s Name and Logo”). For the purpose of obtaining authorisation to use IRENA’s Name and Logo, please submit a request to info@irena.org, providing your details (or your company’s details including business line), a comprehensive description of the proposed use and the context in which IRENA’s Name and Logo will be added. IRENA reserves the right to request the User for additional information in consideration of the request.

6.2 The use of the name and/or logo of other entities or international organisations mentioned in the Website or in Publications is subject to compliance with the requirements of the concerned entities and/or international organizations. Users are alone responsible to ensure compliance with applicable requirements concerning the use of the name and/or logo of other entities. Users are advised to contact the particular entity or organisation to obtain the requisite guidance and approval.

6.3 If You become aware of an unauthorised use, either commercial or not, of IRENA’s Name and Logo, You may report this to info@irena.org.

7. Warranties and disclaimers

7.1 IRENA’s Content on the Website or obtained by the User through the use of the IRENA’s Platforms and Tools, and other third-party content, including without limitation text, maps, graphics, data or statistics, are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. IRENA makes no warranties or undertakings, either express or implied, on its own behalf, its officials, employees, Members, or its data or other content providers, with respect of, inter alia, the availability, accuracy, completeness, reliability, security and fitness for a particular purpose or use, of IRENA’s Content (or of any third-party content), or regarding the non-infringement of third-party rights.

7.2 By accessing and/or using the Website, You understand and agree that You are responsible for your own decisions and for properly analysing and verifying any information You intend to rely upon. IRENA’s Content (and third-party content) showed on the Website do not replace or shall be used instead, or in breach, of existing laws, regulations and/or official guidelines issued by relevant authorities in the respective countries.

7.3 IRENA, its officials, employees, Members or its data or other content providers, shall not, under any circumstances, be responsible or liable to Users for any kind of loss, damage, liability or expense incurred or suffered, including all loss of profit, loss of use, loss of revenue, loss of contracts, increased costs and expenses and all special, indirect and consequential losses, which may be claimed as a result of access, or lack of access to, or use of the Website, IRENA’s Platforms and Tools, IRENA’s Content, or third-party content, including from any infringement of third-party rights (such as third-party intellectual and proprietary rights).

7.4 IRENA does not warrant that access to the Website will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses or other harmful components. You understand that there are security, privacy and confidentiality risks inherent in using the Website, and You accept those risks by accessing the Website.

7.5 IRENA reserves its right to terminate, suspend, change, update or discontinue in any way, part or all of the Website, including the availability of any of its features, or to impose limits on certain features, or restrict your access to parts of the Website, at any time without notice or any liability. IRENA’s Content and third-party content included on the Website may be out of date and IRENA makes no commitment to update it.

7.6 Except where expressly stated, IRENA’s Content do not necessarily represent the views of IRENA, individual Members, and/or IRENA’s data or other content providers. Content displayed on the Website in relation to third parties does not represent any endorsement, preference or recommendation on the part of IRENA.

7.7 The designations employed and the presentation of information made by IRENA on the Website do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of IRENA concerning the legal status of any region, country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

8. Third-party content and websites

8.1 The Website may contain advice, opinions, statements or other type of content from third parties, and may mention or refer to specific entities, products or information available on external websites.

8.2 IRENA does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any third-party content and shall not be held responsible or liable for any such content, advertising, products or services mentioned on the Website or available on third parties’ websites. Reliance upon such content shall be at the Users’ own risk. Neither IRENA nor any of its officials, employees, Members, data or other content providers, shall be liable to any User or anyone else, for any inaccuracy, error, omission, deletion, defect, alteration or use of any such third-party content, or for its timeliness or completeness.

9. Privacy Policy

9.1 By accessing and using the Website You understand that IRENA may collect:

i. Personal information when You register or create an account in the Website. IRENA understands that by creating such registration or account You are voluntarily providing your personal details for the purpose communicated by IRENA in each case; and,

ii. Non-personally identifiable information from your access and use of the Website, including device-specific information such as your operating system version, log information such as your internet protocol address, location and time information, and any other similar information.

9.2 IRENA reserves its right to use the information referred to in Section 9.1 above:

i. to provide, maintain, and improve the Website, to detect or prevent or otherwise address any breach of these Terms and Conditions, or any related security or technical issues, or to protect the Website, IRENA’s property or rights, or its officials, employees, licensors, contractors or Members’ rights or interests;

ii. when required by applicable laws and regulations, to satisfy requests under legal process, and/or in case of suspected unlawful, improper or inappropriate conduct for referral to appropriate authorities;

iii. to contact you if you have applied for employment or a career opportunity in IRENA or when you have completed a registration process for provision of information or any other purpose; and,

iv. for statistical purposes.

9.3 IRENA will use your information exclusively for the purposes mentioned in section 9.2 above or for any other non-commercial purpose clearly stated for your consideration in the relevant registration request. For any other use of your information, IRENA will ask for your advance written consent.

9.4 In any use of the Users’ personal information, IRENA will make its best efforts to protect its confidentiality. However, IRENA does not warrant the security of such information. Neither IRENA, nor its personnel shall under any circumstances be held responsible or liable for any breach of confidentiality and/or security.

9.5 IRENA assumes no responsibility for the privacy policies on any third parties’ websites.

9.6 Users may contact IRENA should they have any concerns regarding the use of the provided personal information or if they wish to de-register from the Website, by sending an email to: info@irena.org. Personal data provided by the Users will be retained by IRENA for a reasonable period to carry out the purpose for which the personal information was collected and. will be deleted from IRENA’s records in accordance with IRENA’s schedules for disposal of data.

10. Cookies Policy

10.1 A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that is stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive.

10.2 The Website uses cookies to provide the required functionality of its features by setting configuration data on the Users’ machine. Through the use of cookies, IRENA aims to provide the Users with a good browsing experience and use of the Website. These cookies are neither tracking cookies nor cookies that track personal behaviour or usage but are only required to provide the functionality of the web applications.

10.3 You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse all or some cookies.. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies, you may not be able to access all or parts of the Website and use all or parts of its features.

11. Indemnification

You shall indemnify, defend and hold IRENA and its data and other content providers, harmless from and against any liability, loss, claim, and expense, based upon or in connection with your acts or omissions and, where applicable, those acts or omissions from your employees, agents, contractors and other personnel, relating to your use of the Website, including without limitation, any actual or alleged unauthorised use of the Website or other breach of these Terms and Conditions, or infringement of any patent, copyright, trademark or similar proprietary right.

12. Settlement of Disputes

Any dispute, controversy or claim between the Users and IRENA arising out of or in connection with the use of the Website, which cannot be amicably settled within thirty (30) days after receipt by one party of the other party’s written request for such amicable settlement, shall be submitted to arbitration in accordance with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) arbitration rules as at present in force. There shall be a sole arbitrator. The language to be used during the arbitral proceedings shall be English. The decisions of the arbitral tribunal shall be based on general principles of international commercial law. The arbitral tribunal shall have no authority to award punitive damages, nor to award interest in excess of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) then prevailing, and any such interest shall be simple interest only. The Parties shall be bound by any arbitration award rendered as a result of such arbitration as the final adjudication of any such dispute, controversy or claim.

13. Privileges and Immunities

IRENA is an international organization which is entitled to privileges and immunities under international and domestic law. None of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions shall be construed as constituting a waiver, express or implied, of IRENA's privileges and immunities.

14. Modifications of the Terms and Conditions

IRENA reserves the right to modify the present Terms and Conditions at any time. Such modifications shall be effective immediately upon their posting on the Website. Any use of the Website after the publication of the new Terms and Conditions shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by you of the modifications.