World Wind Energy Award 2010 goes to the Founding Member States of IRENA

Istanbul/Bonn (WWEA) – On the occasion of the 9th World Wind Energy Conference 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey, the Board of the World Wind Energy Association has decided to give the World Wind Energy Award 2010 to the Founding Member States of the International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA and hand it over to IRENA’s Interim Director General, Ms Hélène Pelosse.

The World Wind Energy Award has been given to recognise all Founding Members for the founding of IRENA. The creation of IRENA can be seen as the most important decision ever taken on the global level in favour of renewable energy. The founding of IRENA sent out a very strong signal to the world community that renewable energy will have to play and will play a key role in the future energy supply all over the world. With the Award, WWEA would also like to indicate that WWEA is committed to work closely with IRENA and will continue to give its full support.

IRENA has already 145 members and the ratification process is going on rapidly. WWEA is pleased that the crucial mark of 25 ratifications has now been reached. This will make IRENA a legal entity by beginning of July. With this impressive and fast progress, IRENA is without doubt the most successful creation of an international governmental body ever.

In spite of a lot of opposition, the world community convincingly committed to the implementation of renewable energy. The founding of IRENA was a very long, often difficult process and many obstacles had to be overcome. Not everybody, in the traditional energy sector and beyond, shared the enthusiasm that the initiators of IRENA have been showing for many years. The World Wind Energy Association has been one of these initiators and strongest proponents since its own foundation in 2001.

Officially launched by the Governments of Germany, Denmark and Spain in 2008, the initiative to create IRENA has found many more supporters than most people had expected, at a breathtaking pace. These countries and all those countries that followed to support IRENA showed extraordinary leadership and passion by overcoming huge in- and external barriers.

The Founding Member States of IRENA, with all their authority, have initiated a new and innovative direction that will lead away from crusted structures into a future that will help us to overcome some of the most pressing problems which mankind is facing today: energy scarcity, climate change and equal as well as fair access to energy. IRENA’s Founding Members have indicated with their action that they want to break the vicious circle of increasing dependency on limited fossil resources, and replace it with energy independence by using domestic renewable resources. IRENA’s creation gives the opportunity to create the long-due access to energy to billions of people that so far have been left out.

WWEA sees the creation as a milestone to introduce wind energy and other renewable energies on a broad basis and on a large scale. It will be important that the working scope of IRENA will be as broad as possible, involving the broad diversity of stakeholders and applications in renewable energy. Small, rural communities as well as large cosmopolitan areas will benefit equally.

WWEA is aware that building the operational capacities and capabilities of IRENA is an enormous task which requires huge efforts. It is encouraging to see the leadership and drive that IRENA’s Interim Director General Hélène Pelosse and her dedicated team are showing in these demanding founding days.

The creation of IRENA has raised high expectations all over the world. WWEA hopes and expects that the World Wind Energy Award 2010 will encourage the Member States of IRENA to continue the present path and without any hesitation follow it to its successful implementation. WWEA hopes and expects as well that Hélène Pelosse and the whole IRENA Staff will feel encouraged to continue the work which has just started but will be of crucial importance for the future of mankind.