IRENA signs partnership with Southeast Asian countries as region looks to scale-up renewables

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) signed an agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), forging a new partnership aimed at scaling up renewable energy deployment and advancing the transition to a sustainable energy future.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by IRENA’s Director-General Adnan Z. Amin and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dato Lim Jock Hoi, on the sidelines of the 36th ASEAN Ministers on Energy (AMEM) and the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW), in the presence of regional ministers.

Under the agreement, IRENA and ASEAN will work closely to strengthen the enabling environment for renewable energy investment and deployment as ASEAN pursues an aspirational target of 23 percent of primary energy from renewables by 2025. Based on IRENA analysis, achieving the target will require an estimated annual investment of USD 27 billion, equivalent to one percent of regional GDP, for the next eight years – a tenfold increase on 2016 investment volumes.

Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy offers enormous socio-economic benefits to the region, including the development of new value chains, job creation and improved livelihoods. In Southeast Asia, employment in the renewable energy sector currently stands at around 600,000. A scale-up of renewables in the region has the potential to create well over two million jobs by 2030.

“Transitioning our energy systems to renewable energy and supporting sustainable development are top priorities for ASEAN member states and for the people of our nations,” said the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dato Lim Jock Hoi. “The world is evolving. New technologies and innovative approaches present important social and economic opportunities.

“This agreement represents an extension of the close relationship between ASEAN and IRENA, allowing our member states to not only learn from one another but benefit from global best practice in the implementation of sound and successful renewable energy policies,” continued Dato Lim Jock Hoi. “This will help ASEAN Member States transition to low carbon growth and contribute to the attainment of sustainable development.”

Acknowledging IRENA’s key role in the energy transformation, the ASEAN Energy Ministers expressed confidence that the ASEAN-IRENA MoU will contribute towards closing the region’s renewables deployment gap.

The partnership will see IRENA and ASEAN Energy Ministers work closely across a number of key implementation focus areas.

Original source: IRENA
Published on 30 October 2018