On Monday, the 130 founding members of the organization voted on the location of IRENA’s headquarters, and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has been named the winner.
Abu Dhabi beat the Austrian capital Vienna and Bonn in Germany in a three horse race. The Danish capital Copenhagen dropped its candidacy a week before the vote.
“First of all, I think it’s very important that everyone comes together and supports IRENA and helps to make it as effective as possible,” Eduardo Goncalves of the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) told The Media Line.
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Neither losing city will be left empty-handed. Bonn will host IRENA’s center of technology and innovation, and Vienna will be the home of the Agency’s liaison office for cooperation with other organizations active in the field of renewable energy.
IRENA hopes to become the main driving force for promoting a rapid transition towards the widespread and sustainable use of renewable energy on a global scale. They aim to do this by providing practical advice and support for both industrialized and developing countries, thereby helping to improve frameworks and build capacity, according to a statement from the organization.
While several United Nations and international organizations have regional offices in the Middle East and North Africa, Abu Dhabi’s election means that, for the first time, an organization will have its main office in the Middle East.
The new home of the organization will be located in Masdar City, part of the Masdar Initiative, Abu Dhabi’s multi-million dollar project for green energy. When completed in 2016, the city hopes to be the first carbon neutral and zero waste city in the world. The new agency will be housed in a so-called positive energy building, meaning that it will produce more energy than it will use.
“It’s recognition of Abu Dhabi and Masdar’s ability to promote renewable energy,” Goncalves said.
The Masdar Initiative was launched by the government of Abu Dhabi in 2006 with the goal of advancing the development, commercialization and deployment of sustainable and renewable energy technologies and solutions.
Abu Dhabi’s candidacy was not controversial as the country has one of the largest carbon footprints in the world, according to a recent study by the World Bank.
The country is the seventh largest oil producer in the world with a daily production of close to three million barrels and, until now, utilizing energy from renewable sources has been limited.