Countries Join Forces to Accelerate Global Energy Transition

Ministers and representatives from frontrunner countries in energy transition met on the sidelines of the Berlin Energy Transition dialogue to discuss the urgency for the world to move onto a trajectory of sustainable low carbon economic growth while meeting increasing global energy demand and addressing climate change. They also emphasized that the technologies and business models to do so are available today.

At the meeting, ministers and high-level representatives from China, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates, agreed to work together to establish an Energy Transition Coalition in the course of this year for accelerating the transition to a sustainable energy future. The Coalition will assemble countries leading in developing long term energy transition strategies to foster investments in a low carbon energy sector. Ensuring increased investor certainty for low carbon economic growth by developing energy transition strategies will be at the heart of the Energy Transition Coalition.

"Few people would have imagined the scale and pace of the energy transition which we are witnessing today. Renewable energy deployment has considerably expanded thanks to reduced costs and record new investments in power generation from renewables. Energy efficiency is picking up and we see important synergies emerging with renewable energy. Many countries are proving that the ongoing energy transition in fact has multiple positive social, economic and environmental impacts," said International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Director-General Adnan Z Amin. "By working together, we can hasten the transition to a sustainable energy future," he added.

"Today, our energy landscape is under a fundamental transition, driven by the emergency of new energy technologies, and the need for global carbon emission reduction. The development of the future world energy system should be moving in the direction of green, low-carbon and smart technologies," said Mr. Nur Bekri, Administrator of China's National Energy Administration.

"The energy transition is a huge chance for further economic growth in our countries. We will set the right framework for new business models and start ups to modernize our energy systems. The coalition countries are frontrunners with political experience. We will make use of the political momentum that is accompanying international energy discussions since some years. We are looking forward to joining forces with all interested countries to accelerate the global energy transition," highlighted Mrs. Brigitte Zypries, German Minister of Economic Affairs an Energy.

Recalling the Suzhou Declaration of the International Forum on Energy Transition, which calls for enhanced international co-operation for accelerating the energy transition, the ministers and high-level representatives agreed to work towards establishing an Energy Transition Coalition of high ambition countries, supported by IRENA, which would enable the sharing of expertise, exchange of best practices, and development of innovative approaches to accelerate power sector transformation through integrating higher shares of renewable energy in energy supply and energy use and improving energy efficiency.

The Coalition will maximize the use of existing platforms and collaborate with all relevant international organisations to promote the exchange of information on issues such as optimal transition pathways, enabling technologies, financing and enabling policy frameworks.

IRENA | www.irena.org