The announcement of the new voluntary contribution was made during a meeting between Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General and Jean-Luc Crucke, Minister of Budget, Finance, Energy, Climate and Airports, Government of Wallonia at the IRENA Pavilion at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) in Bonn, Germany. The funding follows from a similar €1 million contribution made by the Walloon Government at last year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech.
“I would like to congratulate IRENA for its work to promote and develop renewable energy on a global scale in so little time since it was founded,” said Minister Crucke. “This work has given it a key position on the international scene in the renewable energy sector, of course, but also in our common work to combat climate change. The Government of Wallonia would like to continue to support IRENA in its work to assist member countries in deploying their strategies to implement their NDCs, in particular developing countries.”
The funding will be used to support an IRENA facility announced last week in Bonn that will provide strategic planning and technical support to countries to raise achievable renewable energy ambitions under their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
“Renewable energy is not only good for climate it is also good for growth,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “It is clear that there is substantial opportunity for countries to raise their renewable energy ambitions so we are grateful to the Wallonian Government’s continued support of the Agency’s efforts in this area, especially at this critical juncture when countries begin to revise their commitments under the Paris Accord.”
The contribution towards the NDC renewable energy facility is a timely one given IRENA’s recent finding that current NDCs and energy strategies can be substantially enhanced to meet global climate objectives. The new report also finds that renewable energy already targeted within national energy strategies often exceeds such capacity currently envisaged under NDCs.