Corporate Sourcing for Renewables Campaign Demonstrates Momentum at Eighth Clean Energy Ministerial
BEIJING, China, June 8, 2017 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Today, key partners in the Clean Energy Ministerial's (CEM's) Corporate Sourcing of Renewables Campaign highlighted progress and announced major new efforts to help companies increase their use of renewable energy and help power a transition to a clean energy future. The campaign was featured during the eighth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM8) Public-Private Action Summit, held in Beijing and hosted by China's Ministry of Science and Technology and National Energy Administration. Campaign announcements included news that RE100 has grown by half over the past year, the release of new reports on enabling frameworks, and a new annual Corporate Sourcing conference. In addition, China announced it would co-lead the campaign, joining Denmark and Germany.
"I am proud that Denmark is leading the CEM's 'Corporate Sourcing of Renewables Campaign' together with Germany," said Lars Christian Lilleholt, Minister of Energy, Utilities and Climate of Denmark. "We welcome the new co-leadership of China, which can bring further momentum in the campaign. We are involved since it is crucial to deliver on the Paris Agreement. Many leading global companies have increasingly committed to the goal of utilizing one hundred percent clean energy. As a policy maker, I am committed to enabling those companies to power their operations with renewable energy and to highlighting best practices and supportive policies and resources. I look forward to conclude the campaign and bring final recommendations to fellow ministers at CEM9 in Copenhagen and Malmö in 2018, following another year of intense work."
Thorsten Herdan, Germany's Director General for Energy Policy with the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, said "We have seen continued wind and solar energy technology cost reductions in recent months, with record-low auction results from different regions of the world. In many areas, the business case for corporates to source renewables has further improved. With this campaign, we have initiated important work, supported by IRENA and further partners from civil society and business, to better understand and to improve the market and regulatory framework conditions for corporate sourcing."
Li Fanrong, Deputy Director-General of China's National Energy Administration (NEA) said "We are glad to co-lead the Corporate Sourcing of Renewables campaign together with Denmark and Germany. As China's renewable generation capacity increases and costs decrease, more and more corporates in China are expressing strong will to purchase renewables. The upcoming voluntary trading of Renewable Energy Certificates, which will carry out in July, is an effective way to realize this will."
Launched during the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial, the campaign is a global collaborative effort to enable more companies across multiple markets to power their operations with renewable energy, and send a crucial message to governments and other companies about the growing demand for increasingly cost-competitive renewable energy. Other participating governments include the European Commission, Mexico, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Contributing to the campaign are several major international partners: the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), RE100, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), World Resources Institute (WRI), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Center for Resource Solutions (CRS), Solar Power Europe, and Wind Europe.
"The remarkable set of commitments and actions we are seeing in the corporate sector on renewables clearly shows that the business case for renewable energy is stronger than ever," said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. "It also sends a powerful signal to markets to channel more investments into renewable power generation. These achievements are only the beginning of what corporate sourcing can truly contribute in accelerating the energy transition. As we move to scale this up even further, identifying and removing market barriers and sharing best practices is essential. By mapping out global efforts and potential for corporate sourcing in decarbonising the global energy mix, the REmade Index will do just that," Mr. Amin added.
Corporate demand for renewable energy is increasing rapidly as more companies make commitments to using renewables as part of sustainability efforts, as well as for energy security and price certainty. This demand is now becoming a critical driver towards decarbonizing power systems. Falling costs of renewable power have strengthened the business case for action, and 96 members of RE100 are already creating demand for 128 TWh of renewable electricity per year--about as much as it takes to power Argentina.
"Our industry can play a vital role in the energy transition," said Marcel Galjee, Director of Energy at AkzoNobel, which recently joined a group of other multinational companies to jointly buy renewable electricity to power operations in The Netherlands. "As part of our sustainability approach, we are committed to 'do more with less'. We successfully reduced our footprint in the United States and Europe and are working to develop an energy portfolio in China that emphasizes more renewables."
CEM8 also featured a full-day event on Corporate Sourcing of Renewables, with representatives from global companies and governments sharing best practices and key lessons learned. The event included an afternoon session focused specifically on the Chinese market and opportunities to increase corporate sourcing in China's emerging voluntary green certificate market. "New research by The Climate Group confirms that Chinese businesses strongly support market liberalization to enable them to buy low-cost and reliable renewable electricity via the grid," said Sam Kimmins, Head of The Climate Group's RE100 campaign. "China has already become a powerhouse for renewable energy investments. The right policy measures and business models will further drive innovation and bring down costs. The next step must be to increase transparency and knowledge sharing around solutions--that's where RE100 comes in."
The CEM campaign builds off work by the CEM's Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group, which aims to promote the accelerated deployment of solar and wind technologies.
About the Clean Energy Ministerial
The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a partnership of the world's key economies working together to accelerate the global clean energy transition. Launched in 2010, the CEM pairs the high-level engagement of energy ministers with year-round initiatives and campaigns to drive faster deployment of clean energy policies and technologies worldwide. www.cleanenergyministerial.org.
Media Contact: Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat, Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat, +33637175126, Secretariat@CEMSecretariat.org
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SOURCE Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat
