IRENA: Governing (Renewable) Energy

Last week, a new and exciting step towards global energy governance took shape with official establishment of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). An initiative driven by the governments of Germany, Denmark and Spain, IRENA is expected to become the leading international institution exclusively responsible for the promotion of renewable energy adoption, research and technology sharing among a diverse group of industrialized and developing countries.

Over the course of last nine months, a series of international meetings and workshops were convened to chart out IRENA’s ambitious mandate leading into the 26 January 2009 founding conference in Bonn, Germany. Over 150 national or institutional representatives participated in the preparatory sessions towards the production of the Statute of IRENA, which will act as the foundational document of the burgeoning international energy body.

The Statute outlines IRENA’s goal to become the main driving force in promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale. In support of these efforts, IRENA will;

… provide practical advice and support for both industrialised and developing countries, help them improve their regulatory frameworks and build capacity. The agency will facilitate access to all relevant information including reliable data on the potential of renewable energy, best practices, effective financial mechanisms and state-of-the-art technological expertise. (Source: About IRENA)

IRENA has emerged amid frustrations with decision-making in the International Energy Agency (IEA), its disinterest in the promotion of renewable energies, and its limited regulatory reach. While the IEA is an influential energy body – sometimes seen as the oil consuming countries’ counter-balance to OPEC - some members (and non-members) have expressed discontent with its lack of concern for climate issues and the introduction of alternatives. 

With an initial budget of €25m, IRENA will spend the next year choosing a headquarters and secretariat as well as pushing national ratifications before launching full operations in 2010. Its supporters are quite optimistic on the agency’s future relevance and influence. Hermann Scheer is reported to have said, “Irena is the single-most important step for a speedy global introduction of renewable energies. It will give an enormous push to the use of renewables around the globe.” As president of the World Council for Renewable Energy, Scheer has worked to turn the rapid groundswell of attention on climate issues into support for a legal, standards-setting body.

Initial support for IRENA is quite impressive. However, conspicuously absent from the 75 original signatories are G8 countries Canada, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States; and global South leaders such as Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. Notably, membership of this ‘coalition of the green’ (so far) boasts strong connections among European and African states (see map); and, most shockingly, a healthy participation of OPEC, with Algeria, Iran, Nigeria and United Arab Emirates signing onto the Statute. Supporters of the process have included smaller states such as Iceland (pop. 300,000), Mali (GDP $530/cap.), Montenegro (est. 2006), and São Tomé and Principe (950km2).

Geographic distribution of IRENA membership.

What IRENA has done better than other organization is to reach across the industrialized–developing country divide (aka North-South), constructing early legitimacy from a diverse constituency. Other initiatives toward global energy governance have not escaped the ‘club’ mentality, constraining themselves with like-mindedness and self-interest. First and foremost, the IEA (as an agency of the exclusive OECD) is comprised of a wealthy, industrialized, energy import-dependent membership, and as such not representative of the global energy system. It functions solely in support of its members, supplying detailed information and policy analysis on energy market trends - the IEA is not an advocacy or governing body, thereby sustaining a status-quo stance on some of the world’s most pressing energy challenges. 

A fairly recent initiative, the G8-oriented Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change (or MEM-16), has attempted to offer palatable climate change policies for resisters of the Kyoto Protocol. Driven mainly by conservative governments who fear environmental protections as threats to economic output (including IEA members United States, Australia, Japan and Canada), the MEM-16 has so far offered only weak prescriptive measures and little in the way of substantive climate policy. Also among the institutions addressing energy is the NATO security alliance, working to secure the international petroleum transportation infrastructure. A special division of NATO is slowly implementing surveillance and protection of critical shipping routes and pipelines.

IRENA is different as it appreciates that while energy is the lifeblood of all economic activity; a) dependence on exhaustable resources and destructive technologies does not suit long-term economic interests, and b) we’re all in it together. The institution benefits from forward thinking - next-generation environmentalism – that is able to adopt favourable policies that can benefit firms and the market at the same time as protecting the environment. It has also placed developing countries at the core, understanding that there are great opportunities for renewable energy to provide sustainable development. However, some structural and functional challenges lie ahead. On the former, IRENA lacks the participation of the major emerging economies (BRICSAM and others) who are largely responsible for recent increase in fossil feul consumption, and arguably the countries most in need of alternative energies. On the latter, any international institution is only as good as the compliance of its membership to match national policy with international agreements. Thus far, the record of compliance on climate policies is dismal. 

Meanwhile, the biggest stumbling block for IRENA’s success remains the absence of a U.S. signatory. The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) actively participated in the preparatory meetings and has placed pressure on Washington to join IRENA. There are early signs that the new administration may be listening. U.S. President Barack Obama’s environmental memorandum (also of 26 January, see Climate CHANGE: Obama-style) provides much anticipation that membership may be possible in the coming months. His official request of the newly minted transport secretary to enforce the EPA’s energy efficiency standards and to lift federal restrictions on alternative energy sourcing are both positive indications of an administration willing to engage in mature environmental policy. As the U.S. prepares its climate diplomacy towards the December 2008 UNFCCC in Copenhagen (likely directed by new energy secretary Steven Chu), it will be interesting to see how other leaders/governments respond to the initiatives of the magnetic president.

The moral leadership demonstrated by IRENA’s drivers have brought the institution to fruition. From here on, it will be its capability to deliver action that will seal IRENA’s fate as either an ineffectual, idealistic body or a lodestar for global energy governance. What IRENA has proven so far is that there is widespread interest in casting off the ‘business-as-usual’ approach to international energy challenges, and to introduce innovative mechanisms for collaborative policy development, technology upgrading and knowledge sharing. Expectations are very high – it’s now up to IRENA to deliver.

Tags: Africa, climate change, global governance, IEA, IRENA, Kyoto, Obama, renewable energy