Press Release, 17 March 2009
IRENA was established in Bonn on 26 January 2009 by 75 countries. Among them were Argentina, Austria, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, Nigeria, Poland, Spain, South-Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. On 11 February Belarus signed the statute, India followed suit on 17 March. Initiator of the worldwide renewable energy agency, IRENA, is member of parliament Hermann Scheer, who as president of EUROSOLAR, and chair of the World Council for Renewable Energy, brought forth the concept of IRENA in 1990 and launched the process towards the creation of this agency. With the decision to bring the IRENA concept to life, the Federal governments of Germany, Denmark and Spain jointly worked towards it’s establishment and have driven the idea forward. IRENA will accelerate and coordinate the introduction and use of renewable energy worldwide.