DOE bats for global cooperation on renewable energy

MANILA, Philippines - Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes has urged member-countries of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to enter into joint cooperation to further enhance the development of renewable energy.

Reyes, in a statement delivered during the second session of the Preparatory Commission of IRENA, said this group could serve as an instrument to make renewable energy and energy efficiency as “a political priority of all countries.”

In five months since its founding in Bonn, Germany last January, IRENA now has 136 signatory members. The Philippines was one of the 75 founding members of IRENA – the first among ASEAN countries.

IRENA is now reputed to be the first international organization, outside of the United Nations, that has drawn this many member-countries in decades.

In addressing the session, Reyes identified key challenges that IRENA will have to address through the joint cooperation.

He cited the need to “spread the reach of investments, including technology transfer and resources for research and development” as a key issue that needs to be addressed urgently.  

He also called on IRENA to work with international development banks and development organizations in addressing the need for financing renewable energy projects in developing countries.

New financial mechanisms at the international level, he said, will help drive down costs and barriers to renewable energy development. He noted that in 2007, global investments in renewable energy reached $148 billion, but that most of these were made in developed countries.