Abu Dhabi: Environmentally conscious citizens will soon be able to assess the readiness of their governments to adopt renewable energy to combat climate change, thanks to a new initiative by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).
Irena will prepare a ‘Renewable Readiness Report' on all world nations, which will give a clear picture of their legislative framework, incentives, targets and provisions in national development plan for adopting renewable energy, a top official told Gulf News.
Since international negotiations to make a binding legal framework to combat climate change have not fully succeeded, one possible way to address carbon emission and poverty is scaling up the use of renewable energy, Adnan Z. Amin, interim director general of Irena, said in an exclusive interview at Irena headquarters in Abu Dhabi recently.
The report will address one of the main impediments to adopting renewable energy in developing countries' lack of knowledge and capacity, he said.
Incentives
"In many countries you have some element of policy for renewable energy but we don't have a clear picture ... what is the legislative framework ... what are the incentives being offered ... whether there are targets in countries ... and whether there are provision in their national development plans for promoting renewable energy," Amin said. The report will pinpoint the gaps in policy framework and capacity, he said.
It is the third major project announced by Amin who took charge as the interim director general in November. As Gulf News reported on November 30, a map identifying the areas with solar radiation and wind in individual countries, and a database of renewable energy technologies are the two major projects initiated by Amin.
"We are taking two regions to begin with — Africa and South Pacific islands." He said the project will gradually move to all world nations.
A report on the state of readiness of African countries [in adopting renewable energy] will help them to achieve their target at a much faster pace, Amin said. "We have to involve all institutions active in the region — World Bank, UNDP [United Nations Development Programme] and regional bodies like African Union and other sub-regional bodies also."
Plans: Three key projects
- About any time frame to implement three projects interim director general of Irena Adnan Z. Amin envisioned mapping solar radiation and wind, database on available technology and Renewable Readiness Report, Amin said: "We have to work with the council of Irena which will be formed in April."
- The official said he expected the projects would give initial results by the second part of this year.
