
Blue Economy Can Help Members Boost Offshore Renewables
30 June 2022 | Articles
14 – 16 January 2022 |Abu Dhabi, UAE
The 12th session of the IRENA Assembly took place in a virtual setting from 15 to 16 January 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with related stakeholder and ministerial meetings held on 13 and 14 January 2022. The sessions were live-streamed on the IRENA Assembly Live webpage.
The IRENA Assembly brought together Heads of State/Government, Ministers and energy decision-makers among its Membership and States-in-Accession, as well as multilateral organisations, global stakeholders and private actors to reassess long-standing assumptions, perceived barriers and default decisions, and discuss the energy transition as an investment in our collective future. The Opening featured a high-level meeting on the follow-up of COP26 and High-level Dialogues on Energy outcomes aligned with the Assembly theme “Energy Transition: From Commitments to Action”.
Furthermore, ministerial roundtables and high-level events focused on pressing issues of energy transition such as the geopolitics of green hydrogen, adaptation, finance and investment, just and inclusive transition, renewables in end-use sectors and latest developments on sources such as geothermal energy. A ministerial event on Africa and Small Island Developing States was also convened to allow for an exchange of perspectives among countries that are most impacted by climate change
A number of Stakeholder Engagement events were organized virtually at the margins of the 12th IRENA Assembly that brought specific perspectives on the energy transition from parliamentarians, youth and the private sector.
The Assembly also considered the conclusions of the Agency’s Council meetings and provides guidance on specific administrative and institutional matters.
This Dialogue Panel featured high-level participants including Ministers, heads of international organisations and private actors, who will share their views on the outcomes of the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Energy and the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties at its 26th session. The panel also seeked to identify actions and strategies to operationalise and effectively implement the commitments made in context of the energy transition.
Associated Publications
Following the Director-General’s presentation on the Implementation of the Work Programme and Budget for 2020-2021 and the Proposed Work Programme and Budget for 2022-2023, the Assembly witnessed the signing of a number of partnership agreements and Memoranda of Understanding.
This Ministerial Meeting aimed to engage Ministers and heads of private organisations in discussing best practices for transitioning towards decarbonised transport, buildings and industry sectors based on renewable electricity, focusing on the best practices for power sector transformation, including how to leverage the flexibility from the electrification of end use sectors to ensure a reliable, cost-effective, decarbonised power system. Following introductory remarks and keynote presentations, delegations were invited to make interventions within an allotted time of three minutes and exchange views on the matter
Associated Publications
Following the launch of the report on the Geopolitics of Hydrogen on 15 January 2022, the main findings were discussed by the Assembly, bringing together Ministers and invited High-level contributors, to exchange views on the evolving geopolitical energy landscape and the role of hydrogen, and highlight policy considerations in this dynamic sector. Following a presentation and a scene-setting discussion, delegations were invited to make interventions within an allotted time of three minutes and exchange views on the matter.
Associated Publications
This Ministerial Meeting aimed to engage Ministers, heads of financial institutions and heads of private investor organisations in discussing best practices for crowding in local and national financial institutions for accelerating just and inclusive energy transition globally, focusing on partnership with governments, foreign direct investors and multilateral development banks and via new innovative climate-action related business models. Following introductory remarks and keynote presentations, delegations were invited to make interventions within an allotted time of three minutes and exchange views on the matter.
Associated Publications
The Assembly heard reports from the Ministerial Meetings held on 15 and 16 January 2022, and the Ministerial and other High-Level and Stakeholder Meetings held on 13 and 14 January 2022.
The 2022 edition of the IRENA Legislators Forum presented a timely opportunity for inclusive and diverse discussions on actions and most up-to-date policy measures that can guide Legislators in supporting countries to shift the energy transition to the implementation phase of national and international commitments. This event was held in a virtual format with simultaneous interpretation into English, French and Spanish.
Associated Publications
This edition of the Public-Private Dialogue convened policy makers, legislators, and members of the Coalition for Action to discuss circular economy and end-of-life management considerations for renewables, as well as what actions are needed from governments and the energy industry to accelerate global progress towards unlocking the benefits of a truly sustainable renewable energy sector. This event was held in a virtual format with simultaneous interpretation into English, French and Spanish.
Associated Publications
Held under the overarching theme “Youth-led solutions to accelerate the energy transition and achieve climate objectives”, the 2022 edition of the IRENA Youth Forum highlighted the role of young people in identifying and developing solutions that can promote and accelerate the renewables-based energy transitions to achieve climate targets and other sustainable development goals. It also offered the opportunity to young people to interact and connect with global thought leaders, government representatives, and IRENA experts in identifying the essential areas that require support for youth to contribute to the advancement of a global energy transition. This event was held in a virtual format with simultaneous interpretation into Arabic, English, French and Spanish.
Associated Publications
This High-Level Meeting convened the Global Geothermal Alliance Member Countries and Partner Organisations to discuss the crucial role of geothermal energy in the energy transition and its relevant contribution to climate action, offering a high-level platform for an exchange on challenges and opportunities in the deployment of geothermal solutions globally.
Associated Publications
This Ministerial Meeting aimed to engage Ministers and heads of organisations in discussing the adaptation benefits of renewable energy, with a specific focus on the linkages with the agriculture and water sectors. It was an opportunity for IRENA Members and other organisations to showcase renewables-linked adaptation initiatives, share best practices and lessons, and discuss measures to attract financing for such solutions. The Ministerial aimed to strengthen the link between the energy transition and climate action across sectors, and the broader 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Following introductory remarks and keynote presentations, delegations were invited to make interventions within an allotted time of three minutes and exchange views on the matter.
Associated Publications
This Ministerial Meeting discussed the relationship between development and energy, diving deep into the interlinkages between SDG7 and other SDGs, including SDG8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG9 on Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. It provided a platform to showcase leadership and commitments in support of putting energy transitions at the centre of development and industrialisation goals in Africa, and enable discussions amongst Ministers from Africa and IRENA’s wider global Membership as well as high-level private sector participants on this important topic. The Ministerial Meeting also witnessed the launch of IRENA’s report ‘Renewable Energy Market Analysis: Africa and its Regions’, developed in partnership with the African Development Bank. Following introductory remarks and keynote presentations, delegations were invited to make interventions within an allotted time of three minutes and exchange views on the matter.
Associated Publications
Long-term energy scenarios have been used as effective tools for energy planning by various governments. In the face of the clean energy transition, transformative change is envisioned not only within the energy sector and but also for society at large. There is an increased awareness that planning for the clean energy transition may demand a new level of complexity to the governance of the scenario planning process and in some cases, to the underlying modelling methodologies.
This side event, which is also a special and the final session of the LTES Africa webinar series, featured the development and use of LTES by selected African power pools. The power pools devise the regional master plan to enable intra-continental power system integration between African countries in the same region.
The objective of the side event was to share the lessons learnt from the African power pools’ LTES planning practices, both in terms of institutional governance as well as LTES methodologies.
Many countries are currently developing strategies to become climate neutral by mid-century, yet decarbonisation of the harder to abate sectors is still in a nascent stage, with limited solutions at hand. That is why hydrogen has emerged as a policy priority in the past couple of years. However, with this growing momentum to establish a global hydrogen market comes the need for a deeper understanding of its broader effects, including on the geopolitics of energy.
Tasked by the Collaborative Framework on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation (CF-GET), IRENA has carried out an in-depth analysis of the geopolitics of hydrogen. Building on IRENA’s substantial body of work in hydrogen and the Global Commission’s report, "A New World – The Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation" in 2019, the new report reflects on many of the key themes with a targeted focus on hydrogen evolution.
Francesco La Camera, Director General at IRENA, presented the key findings of the report “Geopolitics of Energy Transformation: The Hydrogen Factor”, followed by a short exchange around the larger topic of the Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation and the role of hydrogen.
Associated Publications
This High-Level Meeting was organised through the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative and it aimed to engage Ministers, high-level representatives of development partners, multilateral and private organisations, in discussing the investment and capacity needs as well as identifying the appropriate enabling frameworks that will facilitate actions that contribute to the achievement of the SIDS commitments to the Paris Agreement and sharing best practices for transitioning towards climate resilient economies.
Associated Publications
Blue Economy Can Help Members Boost Offshore Renewables
30 June 2022 | Articles
Renewable-based Pathway Key to Palau’s Welfare
28 June 2022 | Articles
* The designations employed and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Renewable Energy Agency concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.