UAE REQUEST TO HOST IRENA HEADQUARTERS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 000199 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMMENT FOR NEA/ARP DEPARTMENT FOR EEB/ESC/IEC/ENR (MONOSSON, SECOR, THOMPSON) AMMAN FOR ESTH HUB (BHALLA) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV ECON PREL PARM RS IR AE SUBJECT: UAE REQUEST TO HOST IRENA HEADQUARTERS REFS: A) Abu Dhabi 170 B) 2/5/09 Monosson-Cooper e-mail C) Abu Dhabi 6 D) 08 State 134385 ¶1. (SBU) On February 19, post received a diplomatic note reiterating the UAE's desire and qualifications to host the headquarters of the International Agency for Renewable Energy (IRENA, first reported in Ref A). Post's informal translation of the diplomatic note follows. ¶2. (SBU) Further demonstrating the UAE's interest, the CEO of Masdar (The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, www.masdar.ae),wrote to UAE Ambassador to Washington Yousif Al Otaiba to urge Al Otaiba to seek support from key USG contacts and other IRENA signatory country officials. The letter (which has been emailed to NEA/ARP) includes additional arguments not included in the MFA diplomatic note. ¶3. (SBU) Begin Text of Diplomatic Note: United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs Date: February 19, 2009 No. 1647 Circular Number 37 The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs presents it compliments to all embassies and consulates accredited to the United Arab Emirates. With reference to the United Arab Emirates request to host the International Agency for Renewable Energy (IRENA) headquarters, we have the pleasure to attach herewith a paper clarifying the United Arab Emirates' reasons and factors for hosting IRENA's headquarters in the city of Abu Dhabi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs appreciates support from friendly and brotherly countries in this regard. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs avails itself of this opportunity to renew to all embassies and consulates accredited to the UAE the assurances of its highest considerations. To all embassies and consulates accredited to the UAE End text. ¶4. (SBU) Begin Attachment Text: UAE Request to Host the International Agency for Renewable Energy (IRENA) Headquarters The International Agency for Renewable Energy (IRENA) was established on January 26, 2009 at the founding conference, which held in Bonn, Germany. During this conference, 75 countries signed the Agency's statute, and the UAE has signed the statute as a founder member of the new agency. 
 At the conference, UAE Foreign Minister H.H. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced the UAE's support for the establishment of IRENA, which will provide support and advice to supporting countries regarding improving renewable energy technologies. Sheikh Abdullah also announced the UAE's desire to host IRENA's headquarters in the city of Abu Dhabi. An official request in this regard has been submitted to the head of the committee concerned with reviewing countries' requests to host the headquarters. The International Agency for Renewable Energy (IRENA) IRENA will be the first international organization focused on renewable energy and will provide support to countries in order to pave the way for sustained renewable energy usage. It will also research current renewable energy uses and seek possibilities to expand its scope. IRENA will study all available technology and investment tools for using renewable energy, including gathering data and information through consultation with international academics and experts in this field. IRENA consists of three main bodies: General Assembly: ABU DHABI 00000199 002 OF 003 The General Assembly consists of all member countries and is considered the supreme body to ratify all resolutions. Executive Council: The General Assembly elects not less than 11 and not more than 21 members from Agency member countries to form the Executive Council. The responsibilities of the Executive Council are to facilitate consultations and cooperation among members and to put in place work program details approved by the General Assembly. General Secretariat: The General Secretariat will undertake program implementation and will be headed by a director general to be nominated by the General Assembly. The General Secretariat's budget will by financed by contributions from member countries. The value of contributions will be calculated on the United Nations quotas table. The Merits of the UAE as Host -- The UAE would be the ideal location for the IRENA headquarters given its geographical location between East and West. -- The UAE has international-level infrastructure that provides all necessary services, international transportation system, and its international airports and airlines reach most countries of the world. -- The UAE has the best infrastructure for telecommunication, internet and satellite communications. -- Many international organizations, including UN regional offices and affiliated organizations, have their headquarters in the UAE, and are practicing their business easily and in accordance with "The Headquarter Agreement", and concluded agreements of "Privilege and Immunity." -- Since its establishment in 1971, the UAE has enjoyed a great record in preserving the environment. The UAE developed environmental institutions, legislation and regulations to achieve sustainable development. In addition, the UAE has signed the relevant international agreements, joined international organizations and participated with the international community in this field. The UAE also introduced the Sheikh Zayed International Prize for Environment, the biggest and most valuable environmental prize in the world, valued at approximately one million U.S. dollars. -- The pioneering policy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan to stop the flaring natural gas associated with oil exploration in 1970 was the first of its kind among the oil producing countries. This policy proved the UAE's commitment to preserve the environment. -- The UAE (Abu Dhabi Emirate) has committed itself to allocate 7 percent target of its total energy generation capacity from renewable energy by 2020. This proves that the UAE is still planning to reduce its future oil dependency, although it is an oil producing country and a member of OPEC. -- MASDAR City, the first zero-carbon, zero-waste city in the world totally dependent on renewable energy, was established in Abu Dhabi. MASDAR will be a model for cities around the world striving for sustainability and will attract major business deals, academics, pioneers and advocates of this sector. The population of MASDAR City is expected to reach 90,000 daily inhabitants. MASDAR will test the boundaries of current and future thinking in sustainable design. It will find low cost renewable energy technologies that can be rolled out on a large scale to provide the world with safe and clean power. -- The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (MASDAR) is working with many international partners to develop renewable energy. It created a joint venture project in Spain (Torresol) to build three solar power plants by 2012. A manufacturing plant for photovoltaic panels has been established in Germany to develop the next generation of thin-film photovoltaic solar panels. -- MASDAR Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) is the first academic research institute entirely focused on renewable energy. It is open to students from every corner of the world, and MIST will be a platform to transfer renewable energy science and technology. ABU DHABI 00000199 003 OF 003 -- The Zayed Future Energy Prize, the first international prize of sustainable energy, was announced during the World Energy Summit in January 2008. The prize was awarded in 2008 to Mr. Dipal Chandra Barua, Founding Managing Director of Grameen Shakti, for his efforts to provide rural citizens of Bangladesh with renewable energy solutions, and Dr. Martin Green an expert researcher in the field of photovoltaic technology. -- The UAE (Abu Dhabi) is working to establish the world's largest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Network. This technology will lead to tremendous drop in the percentage of carbon and to positive boom of environmental impression in the UAE. The project will prove the importance of CCS as a basis to reduce carbon footprints from industry. The UAE is preparing its offer to host the IRENA's headquarters in Abu Dhabi city, which will be submitted on April 30 to the committee constituted to receive applications from countries interesting in hosting IRENA's headquarters. Voting will take place during the IRENA's second conference for member countries in June 2009 in Egypt. End text of attachment. Olson