Time to Establish an International Renewable Energy Agency

On June 30 to July 1 in Berlin, Germany is planning to follow up its initial gathering last April of 54 nations to organize the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which will be launched in November. Take action and ask your government to be at the meeting and participate with this critical initiative. See www.irena.org.

If your government was one of the 54 that attended the first meeting, thank them and ask for their continued support.  If your government did not attend, let them know how critical it is for them to be part of this new effort to shift the energy paradigm for the 21st century!

At the April meeting it was decided that the new Agency would be an engine for empowering developing countries with the ability to access the free and abundant energy of the sun, wind, marine, and geothermal sources; would train, educate, and disseminate information about implementing sustainable energy programs; organize and enable the transfer of science and know-how of renewable energy technologies; and generally be responsible for helping the world make the critical transition to a sustainable energy future.  All interested countries have been invited to attend the Founding Conference for IRENA to be held in November 2008 in Berlin which will adopt IRENA’s statutes, agree on an initial working program, outlining IRENA’s first activities and establishing interim structures to allow for a prompt commencement of the work.

To move forward, a Working Program Group and a Statutes and Finance Working Group will meet in Berlin from June 30 to July 1 with preparatory documents going out to all participants, and results forwarded to other interested countries in July, requesting comments by August.  In September results will be sent to all countries interested in becoming members of  IRENA prior to its Founding Conference to be held in November 2008.   Is your country participating?  Please contact your heads of states, environmental ministers and ask that your country be part of the solution. Call on your government to support this critical effort to save our planet from environmental catastrophe, resource wars, and nuclear proliferation.  Since Irene is the Greek word for peace, this new initiative is particularly well-named, adding resonance to the peaceful benefits of sustainable energy, the reliance upon which will preclude further global strife and conflict.