Minister for Environment Energy and Climate Change attended the Assembly for IRENA

Minister Wallace Cosgrow attended the ninth session of the Assembly of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) -the world’s principal forum for international cooperation on renewable energy-, among 120 Ministers and representatives from 160 countries around the world which began on 11th-13th January 2019 at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates.

This Assembly is the Agency’s supreme decision-making body which brings together Heads of State, Ministers, government officials, and representatives from the private sector, civil society and other international organizations to reaffirm the global renewable energy agenda and make concrete steps to accelerate the global energy transition.

“Gender in the Energy Transformation” was the theme whereby the Assembly introduced topic which featured an interactive discussion on the gender dimension of the energy transformation.

Speaking at the Assembly, the Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change, Mr. Wallace Cosgrow, highlighted the different measures that the Government of Seychelles is undertaking to reduce the amount of imported fossil fuel cost of almost 1 Million US Dollars which will be ploughed back into renewable energy programs.

“Seychelles as a SIDS do not have much land, our pursuit for sustainable development means we have to weigh up all the resources available to us in our ocean, and take informed choices on how to develop them for the benefit of our country and our people. The Indian Ocean is at the crest of this wave, and with our leadership and commitment we can bring about this transformative change that we all believe in, hence the concept of the Blue Economy, In our effort towards better harnessing or territories wealth and energy resources, last year Seychelles Launched a tender for a 4 MW floating IPP PV project. The tender and project will represent a path-breaking opportunity for the eventual successful bidder as it will be first utility-scale floating solar PV project on sea in Africa”

The main objectives of the Assembly was to raise awareness on the importance of renewable energy and its impact on sustainable development, connect policy makers, experts and 3 innovators from many countries to learn from each other, share good practices and inform decision makers by identifying shared needs and finding common ground on shared priorities.

Overall mostly the Assembly's unlimited discussion featured presentations and provided opportunities for contributions from IRENA Member delegations, stakeholder groups and the private sector. Plenaries focused on aspects of the Agency’s work and actions by countries in the development and deployment of renewable.

Minister Cosgrow was accompanied by the P.S of Climate Change Mr. Wills Agricole, The Ambassador for UAE Mr. Jean Claude Adrienne and the CEO of Energy Commission Mr. Tony Imaduwa.