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Climate Change Policy & Practice
High-Level Africa Consultative Forum on Renewable Energy

8-9 July 2011 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Highlights for Saturday, 9 July 2011
On Saturday, delegates to IRENA’s High-Level Africa Consultative Forum on Renewable Energy participated in three sessions on:
*Carrying forward Africa’s Priorities for Sustainable Energy in Partnership with IRENA
*Preparing the ground for accelerating renewable energy deployment in Africa
*Dialogue on opportunities for effective implementation of IRENA’s Work Programme for Africa

In the afternoon, participants adopted a Communiqué on Renewable Energy for Accelerating Africa’s Development.

Adnan Amin, Director-General, IRENA, thanked participants for their endorsement of IRENA and closed the Forum at 5:39pm.

Download the Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary report of the meeting in HTML or PDF format.
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L-R: Ogunlade Davidson, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Sierra Leone, and Adnan Amin, Director-General, IRENA, at the end of the Forum.
Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
Carrying forward Africa’s Priorities for Sustainable Energy in Partnership with IRENA
Session Chair Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, Minister of Energy South Africa, said Africa cannot be a charity case forever. Frank Wouters, Masdar, called for an enabling policy framework focused on, among others: encouraging the development of sustainable individual businesses along the entire energy chain and the careful management of subsidies to avoid distorting markets. Christine Eibs Singer, CEO, E+Co, stressed the need for training clean energy entrepreneurs to put together viable, bankable, and investment-attractive business plans. Karsten Sach, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany, said his country’s commitment to renewable energy technologies was driven by the goal of securing energy access and creating value. Jason Schaffler, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) highlighted knowledge-sharing initiatives to enhance the uptake of renewable energies in Africa. Sekou Touré, Global Environment Facility (GEF), presented on the experiences and relevance of the GEF in financing energy.
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The dais during the session.
Frank Wouters, Masdar
Photograph from Frank Wouters presentation showing the Gemasolar power plant in Seville, Spain, a joint venture between Masdar and Spanish engineering company, SENER.
Session Chair Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, Minister of Energy, South Africa
Christine Eibs Singer, E+Co
Karsten Sach, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany
Jason Schaffler, REEEP
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Sekou Touré, GEF
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Sekou Touré’s presentation
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Participants during the session.

Preparing the Ground for Accelarating Renewable Energy Deployment in Africa
The session was chaired by Ogunlade Davidson, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Sierra Leone, who challenged African leaders to move away from a “lack-of” mentality and start to harness the continent’s considerable capacities.

Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, Minister of Energy, South Africa, called for an interface between the energy, trade and environment sectors, to reduce duplication of efforts and increase investment in green growth. Stephen Karekezi, AFREPREN, encouraged the simultaneous development of agroindustry and green energy projects. Serge Lepeltier, Ambassador for Climate Change, France, said the Paris-Nairobi Climate Initiative aims to provide a dynamic stimulus to meet the goal of providing universal access to energy in Africa by 2030. Gauri Singh, Director of Knowledge Management Innovation and Technology, IRENA, said that IRENA’s readiness mapping initiative is designed to support countries explore a set of alternative pathways in their transition to a clean energy future.

Deepak Gupta, Ministry of New and Renewable Energies, India, proposed the setting up of working groups to identify key action areas, and the development and monitoring of timelines to perform the identified actions. Youba Sokona, Coordinator, African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), underscored the importance of separating "energy needs", a development term, from "energy demand", an economic term.

Carmen Becerril, President of Acciona Energy, Spain, advocated feed-in tariffs and removal of bureaucratic barriers as the two key elements for successful deployment of renewables. Abubakar Umar, Director, Energy Commission of Nigeria, said that African countries need concerted and well-connected policies to attract and sustain local and international investments. Vincent Kitio, Chief, Urban Energy Section, UN HABITAT, called for a strong financial mechanism to bolster the uptake of renewable energy technologies.
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The dais during the session.
Serge Lepeltier, France, Ambassador for Climate Change, Paris-Nairobi Climate Initiative
Session Chair Ogunlade Davidson, Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Sierra Leone
Gauri Singh, Director, Knowledge Management & Technology Cooperation, IRENA
Carmen Becerril Martínez, President, Acciona Energía
Deepak Gupta, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India
Stephen Karekezi’s presentation
Stephen Karekezi, African Energy Policy Research Network
Youba Sokona, UN Economic Commission for Africa, and Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III
Abubakar Umar, Energy Commission of Nigeria
Vincent Kitio, Chief, Urban Energy Section UN HABITAT

Dialogue on Opportunities for Effective Implementation of IRENA’s Work Programme for Africa
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The dais during the session.
Adnan Amin, Director-General, IRENA
Sultan Al Jaber, President of the First Session of the Assembly of IRENA
Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General, UN Industrial Development Organisation
Louis Seck, President Designate of IRENA’s Second Assembly
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Participants during the session.
Thomas Mba Akabzaa, Ministry of Energy, Ghana
Eisa Bahari M. Hamid, Minister of Science & Technology, Sudan
Habib Ouane, Minister of Energy and Water, Mali
Mohamed Maalim Mohamud, Deputy Minister of Energy, Kenya
Yvon Tchicot, Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Gabon
Ibrahim Soumaila, Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE)
Adam Kighoma Ali Malima, Deputy Minister of Energy and Minerals, Tanzania
Simon D’Ujanga, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda

Around the Forum
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The Sheraton Hotel, venue of the Forum.
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L-R: M. Kinane Daouadji Djilali and Lakhdar Benmazouz, Algeria
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L-R: Emanuela Viera Lopes and Paula Catro, Angola
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L-R: Ameera Horriyat, Columbia University student, and Ali Abdulla Khunji, Abu Dhabi Fund for Development
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L-R: Tomé Soares da Vera Cruz and Carlos Vila Nova, São Tomé and Príncipe
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L-R: Selma-Penna Utonih and Willem Isaacks, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Namibia
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L-R: Wangu Mwangi and Tallash Kantai, ENB writers
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L-R: Miquel Muñoz, ENB Team Leader; Tallash Kantai, ENB Writer; Adnan Amin, Director-General, IRENA; Wangu Mwangi, ENB Writer; and Diego Noguera, ENB Digital Editor
Daily web coverage (click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
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Related Links
IRENA resources
*Forum website
*History of IRENA
*2011 IRENA work programme

IISD RS resources
*IISD RS coverage of the Sixth Asia Clean Energy Forum 2011, 22-24 June 2011, Manila, Philippines
*IISD RS briefing note of the Ministerial Meeting on Energy and Green Industry, 21-22 June 2011, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF) and summary report of the Vienna Energy Forum 2011, 21-23 June 2011, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS summary report of the Regional Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE) - “Energy between Danube and Caucasus” - The Role of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency as a Key Issue for Economic Development, 28-29 April 2011, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS coverage of the Fifth Session of the Preparatory Commission for the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and First session of the Assembly of IRENA, 3-5 April 2011, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
*IISD RS coverage of the World Future Energy Summit 2011, 17-20 January 2011, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
*IISD RS coverage of the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference, 27-29 October 2010, New Delhi, India
*IISD RS summary report of the First High-Level Meeting of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership, 14-15 September 2010, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary Report of the Global Renewable Energy Forum - “Scaling up Renewable Energy,” 7-9 October 2009, León, Mexico (English: HTML - PDF) (Spanish: HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary Report of the Vienna Energy Conference 2009, 22-24 June 2009, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS coverage of the Global Renewable Energy Forum, 18-21 May 2008, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
*IISD RS Summary Report of GFSE-7 - “Energy Efficiency for Developing Countries,” 21-23 November 2007, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary Report of GFSE-6 - “Africa is Energizing Itself,” 29 November - 1 December 2006, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary Report of GFSE-5 - “Enhancing International Cooperation on Biomass,” 11-13 May 2005, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF - TEXT)
*IISD RS Summary Report of GFSE-4 - “Energy for Sustainable Development: Reconsidering the Role of Incentive Measures,” 18-20 February 2004, Vienna, Austria (HTML - PDF - TEXT)
*IISD RS Summary Report of GFSE-3 - “Public-Private Partnerships for Rural Energy Development,” 27-29 November 2002, Graz, Austria (HTML - PDF - TEXT)
*IISD RS Summary Report of GFSE-2 - “Energy Technologies: Cooperation for Rural Development,” 28-30 November 2001, Laxenburg, Austria (HTML - PDF - TEXT)
*IISD RS Summary Report of GFSE-1 - “Rural Energy: Priorities for Action,” 11-13 December 2000, Laxenburg, Austria (HTML - PDF - TEXT)
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