WBA news

As an observer organization to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), WBA participated at the 10^th General Assembly during January 10 – 12, 2020 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The tenth session of the Assembly brought together Heads of State and Government, Ministers, Member delegations as well as heads of international and regional organisations, public and private entities and civil society representatives to contribute to the energy transformation dialogue.

One Ministerial Roundtable and two Ministerial Plenary sessions took place, engaging Ministers and High-level participants on specific topics such as Decarbonisation – Green Hydrogen, Renewables Investment and Hydropower. A number of thematic meetings were held over the course of the 10th session of the IRENA Assembly. The main objectives included raising awareness of the importance of intensifying global efforts to deploy renewable energy, and to discuss their impact on the energy transformation and sustainable development, connecting policy makers, experts and innovators worldwide to learn from each other, and share best practice and experiences on issues of common interest. An overview of the activities at the GA are available here: Link

World Bioenergy Association participated at the Public Private Dialogue organized on 10^th January 2020 providing inputs on adapting market design to integrate high share of variable renewable energy and scaling up private sector investment in Africa.

After the General Assembly, as a member of the IRENA Coalition for Action, WBA participated at the Annual Strategy Meeting. Thirty-eight representatives from thirty Coalition member organizations gathered at the IRENA Headquarters in Abu Dhabi for a full day meeting to discuss past, current and future activities of the Coalition for Action, and to agree on the Steering Group for 2020. As part of the Working Group on 100% Renewable Energy, WBA is pleased to have contributed to a white paper Towards 100% Renewable Energy: Utilities in Transition, which was launched at the Tenth Session of the IRENA Assembly. WBA along with the members of the WG agreed to continue working on a third white paper with a potential focus on end use sectors beyond electricity.