Berlin - Germany is hoping to win approval next week to host
the headquarters of a new organization promoting the development and
use of renewable energies.
The decision will be taken in the Egyptian resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh when delegates from around 100 countries meet on Monday and
Tuesday to decide on the new headquarters.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was established
in the German city of Bonn on January 26, with the aim of helping
industrial and developing nations reduce their dependency on oil,
coal and gas.
Germany is lobbying for Bonn to become the new headquarters, but
is facing stiff competition from the United Arab Emirates, which
would like to host IRENA in Abu Dhabi.
According to media reports, Abu Dhabi is making the running so
far, although German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel told the
German Press Agency dpa he was optimistic that Bonn would get the
nod.
So far 110 countries have signed up to join IRENA and the number is
expected to rise to more than 120 at the conference in Egypt,
according to Gabriel, who will represent Germany there.
'IRENA is a terrific success,' Gabriel said in an interview.
Explaining Germany's reasons for wanting to Bonn to host the
headquarters, he said that as the driving force behind IRENA, Germany
wanted to see it firmly established.
'We believe that experience is necessary to develop and make use
of renewable energy across the globe ... Germany can offer that
experience,' he said, pointing to 280,000 new jobs created in Germany
in the sector.
Germany stands to benefit not just from the environmental do-good
factor, as IRENA could also lead to lucrative partnerships with
developing countries.
This is particularly true in the technology sector, where German
engineering, electrical and chemical companies are among the world's
leaders in the industrial aspect of renewable energy.
'In the space of just a few years we have experienced an enormous
increase in the use of renewable energy to produce electricity,
heating and fuel, Gabriel said.
The Sharm el-Sheikh meeting will also decide on IRENA's budget and
pick a director general from among four candidates from France,
Denmark, Spain and Greece.
The minister said renewable energy was not just about creating
mammoth projects, but also about regions 'where people live in mud
huts.'
'Renewables offer an opportunity to solve one of the biggest
challenges of century - namely, how to supply energy to the more than
1 billion people in the world who are cut off from energy supplies.'
Germany, he said, spends 1 billion euros (1.4 billion dollars) per
year on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in developing
countries.
Asked if he was optimistic that Bonn would get the nod over Abu
Dhabi, Gabriel said he was.
'We are not lobbying against Abu Dhabi,' he said, 'but for Bonn,'
a city which already hosts the secretariat of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change.
IRENA is intended to provide a counterbalance to the International
Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency, by becoming
a driving force behind renewable technologies such as sun, wind,
water and geothermal energy sources.
The organization aims to facilitate the transfer of renewable
technologies to developing countries rich in renewable resources,
such as energy from the sun's rays.
Germany, Spain and Denmark initially campaigned for the foundation
of a renewable energy organisation. The preliminary framework was
drawn up in Madrid in October 2008.
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