The IRENA meeting was held on January 16 and 17 at the Emirates Palace, while the WFES was held on January 18 at Masdar-Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, both in Abu Dhabi.
First established in January 2009 in Germany, the IRENA aims “to promote the widespread and increased adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy.” It is an international organization committed to advocate rapid development of renewable energy worldwide.
The use of renewable energy will help reduce greenhouse gas emission thereby lessening global warming and other negative environmental changes.
The IRENA meeting was attended by delegates from more than a hundred countries. Although 142 countries have signed the IRENA statute, it will take at least 25 countries to ratify — or have their legislature approve — it before it takes effect. Palau was the eighth country to ratify the IRENA statute. It is hoped that the goal to have 25 countries to ratify the statute will be achieved this year.
On January 18, Pierantozzi and Ngiraingas next attended the opening ceremony of the WFES under the patronage of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed AL Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
The event was in turn attended by 18,420 visitors from 84 countries around the world. Speeches revolved around the need “for renewable energy to meet the growing demands for energy to serve the world’s growing population which is projected to reach 10 billion in the very near future and to work towards bringing nature and technology in perfect harmony.”
Many speakers pointed out that while the Climate Change Summit at Copenhagen last month was a failure, “it did not stop the world from moving forward in pursuit of renewable energy to meet the world’s energy demands and to ensure that climate change is held back in check in order to save the world.”
