The UAE has officially submitted a bid to host IRENA’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi. The President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and members of the Supreme Council signed the statute in May (Federal Decree 37 of 2009) and it was ratified by Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, on Wednesday.
The instrument of ratification was deposited at the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on Thursday by the UAE ambassador to Germany Mohammed Ahmed Al Mahmoud. “The support we have received from countries around the globe for our work on IRENA, and in particular our offer to host IRENA’s headquarters in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, has been tremendous,” said Shaikh Abdullah. As part of the UAE bid to host IRENA, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has made an unprecedented offer to help the agency engage developing nations in real, tangible ways by creating a special endowed fund of up to $ 50 million annually solely for IRENA-approved renewable energy development projects in developing nations. “The UAE is committed to facilitating an active and dynamic involvement of the developing world in the future of renewable energy,” said Shaikh Abdullah.
