ISES at the IRENA Assembly 2025

ISES was happy to join the fifteenth session of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly under the theme ‘Accelerating the Renewable Energy Transition – The Way Forward’, with a focus on energy security, socioeconomic development and financing options. ISES Past President Dave Renne and Melina Hanhart from the ISES HQ Team represented ISES at this global platform, joined by 170 IRENA member states and organizations.

It was a great honor for ISES Past President and Board Director Dave Renne to open the session on "Policy Recommendations for Achieving 100% Renewable Energy by 2050". As co-chair of the IRENA Coalition for Action Working group “Towards 100% Renewable Energy Systems”, he set the stage for this discussion on accelerating renewable energy deployments and meeting the COP29 target of tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling energy efficiency. In this session, several IRENA Member state representatives shared best practices, success stories and challenges towards this goal. Highlights were insights from Uruguay, Kenya, Denmark, China and Germany, but also from civil society organizations and NGOs including our ISES partner World Wind Energy Association.

ISES Past President Monica Oliphant presented the outcomes of the IRENA Coalition for Action's Strategy meeting to the participants of the Assembly from over 140 nation-states. She highlighted the urgency to put communities and civil society at the heart of the renewable energy transition, and to actively work against disinformation about renewables.

It was also great to participate in a panel discussion at the World Future Energy Summit together with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the World Meteorological Organization and government representatives about "Climate-driven Global Renewable Energy Potential Resources and Energy Demand". Dave Renne spoke on this panel discussion about how climate variability can impact annual renewable power production. He stressed that given the existing limited capabilities of the electrical grid in many areas, weather and climate data services are critical in achieving the tripling renewables target.
 

Key take aways from the IRENA Assembly and connected meetings are:

  • Everything revolved around the goal to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030 and how to achieve this as a global community
  •  Brazil plays a crucial role for this target as the host of COP30 in Belem – great that the ISES Solar World Congress 2025 #SWC2025 takes place in Fortaleza, Brazil from 04 to 07 November, right before COP30 https://www.solarworldcongress.org/
  • It was truly inspiring to engage with the IRENA Youth Forum delegates and to see a bright future ahead for renewables with such energetic and motivated youth
  • We discussed the path forward to reaching the Sustainable Development Goal SDG on Energy SDG7 and the empowerment of communities
  • We witnessed lots of strong female leadership driving the energy transition
  • International collaboration and partnerships are key if we want to achieve our goals by 2030 and remain on a 1.5° pathway

We thank the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for providing this crucial platform for exchange and progress by bringing together people from across the world and across various sectors in renewables.

ISES is excited to continue engaging in the IRENA Coalition for Action, based on our mission of 100% renewable energy for all.