Governments and corporations join hands for renewables

Governments and private sector corporations have committed to work together to scale up renewable energy under a new campaign launched at the 7th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) meeting in San Francisco.

The Corporate Sourcing of Renewables Campaign will build partnerships to increase the number of companies committed to sourcing renewable energy for their operations, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA joins the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, RE100, World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the World Resources Institute as initiative partners.

At the government level, Germany and Denmark will lead the campaign in collaboration with China, the European Union, Mexico, the UK, and the US.

Together with CEM member governments, campaign partners will develop and deploy enabling policies and resources to help businesses source more renewable energy, IRENA’s press release reads.

Adnan Amin, IRENA General Director, said: “The private sector accounts for roughly 50% of the world’s electricity consumption and so must play a key role in the ongoing global energy transition. Switching this demand to renewables will decrease emissions, generate jobs, and deliver a host of other environmental, social, and economic benefits across the globe. IRENA looks forward to collaborating with initiative partners to reach this aim.”

Some of the private sector corporations involved in the initiative include Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.