The 25 countries that participated in the first-ever Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) have endorsed the “rapid deployment of electric vehicles” as part of the global pursuit to advance clean energy technology and policies. At the conclusion of the two-day conference in Washington DC on Tuesday, the participants came up with more than a half-dozen new initiatives to accelerate the development of clean energy technologies around the world. The programs include avoidance of the need to build more than 500 mid-sized power plants in the next 20 years, support the growing global market for renewable energy and carbon capture technologies, bring solar lanterns or other improved lighting services to more than 10 million poor people by 2015, and help encourage young women to pursue careers in clean energy. The gathering was aimed at finding collective avenues of cooperation and knowledge sharing in promoting policies and programs that address the development of clean energy technologies and the mitigation of climate change. The ministerial talks brought together the 17 members of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF), which include: Australia; Brazil; Canada; China; the European Union; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Italy; Japan; Korea; Mexico; Russia; South Africa; the United Kingdom; and the US. Alongside the MEF countries, eight other governments were selected to participate in the Clean Energy Ministerial process, including the UAE. The second CEM conference will be held in Abu Dhabi in 2011. Dr. Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said: “The United Arab Emirates embraces the opportunity to host the second Clean Energy Ministerial and we look forward to working with participating governments to actively drive the realization of the announced initiatives. This offers the UAE an opportunity to further demonstrate our active participation in the global pursuit to advance clean energy technology and policies.” The UAE government is fully committed to becoming a key player in the implementation of renewable energy policies and technologies and has demonstrated this through the development of Masdar, the multifaceted renewable energy initiative based in Abu Dhabi, and its commitment to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which is also headquartered in Abu Dhabi. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, chief executive officer of Masdar and UAE's special envoy for Energy and Climate Change, said: “The UAE, through the foresight and commitment of its visionary leadership, has quickly become the destination and platform to discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities of clean energy and climate change. Since the inception of Masdar we have always strived to position the United Arab Emirates as an open global platform for cooperation in addressing clean energy access, climate change mitigation and sustainable human development. We are pleased to see that our goals are being achieved and see the UAE as playing an important role in the clean energy economy of the future and welcome opportunities to work with our international partners to build that future.”
