As the 77th signatory state, India will become the first major emerging economy to join the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar will sign the agency's statute tomorrow (17 March) at the Federal Foreign Office in the presence of State Secretary Heinrich Tiemann. Germany is the depositary state of the IRENA Statute.

Commenting on the signing, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued the following statement in Berlin today (16 March):

“I am very pleased that India will be the first major emerging economy to help actively shape the promotion of renewable energy within the framework of IRENA.

Energy security and climate change demand global cooperation. We know that we cannot solve major global challenges on our own. In this regard, cooperation with the major emerging economies such as India, China or Brazil is especially important. A growing awareness of this mutual dependency, also beyond the industrialized countries, is crucial.”

The International Renewable Energy Agency was founded on 26 January 2009 in Bonn. Along with Spain and Denmark, Germany was a driving force behind its establishment. Together with the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Federal Foreign Office has campaigned for IRENA and helped secure the necessary international support by dispatching special envoys and launching a global demarche effort.