The topic of "energy" has gradually moved over the last decades to the very top of the international political agenda. Renewable energy, in particular, has received high attention as a potential win-win option in both the environment and development arenas. Its position has been significantly strengthened lately by increased geopolitical concerns about the security of energy supplies and the related increase in oil prices to some of their highest historical levels.

The UN programmes, conventions and processes most concerned are the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the UN Summits of 2000 (Millennium Summit) and of 2005 (World Summit), as well as the 'Rio Process' with the 1992 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), in which environment and development issues are dealt with in combination, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as a specialised fund.

The issue of (renewable) energy is also taken on by the G8 process, and in particular the Gleneagles Dialogue, in which, apart from the G8 countries, large developing countries are also taking part, and to which the World Bank, the International Energy Agency (IEA) as well as the UK Treasury (Stern Review) are contributing.

Furthermore, the specialised series of the International Renewable Energy Conferences which started in 2004 with the Bonn Renewables 2004 Conference, creates additional momentum to advance renewable energy policies and technologies through an innovative and high-level dialogue of governments and stakeholders outside the UN system.

Lastly, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organisation, was established in January 2009 to provide advice and support to governments worldwide in promoting a transition towards the widespread use of renewable energy.

Recommended Reading:

International Institutional Arrangements in Support of Renewable Energy, by Achim Steiner, Thomas Wälde, Adrian Bradbrook and Frederik Schutyser
(provided through kind permission by Earthscan).

The Multifaceted Institutional Landscape and Processes of International Renewable Energy Policy, by Paul Suding and Philippe Lempp, published in the Newsletter for the International Association of Energy Economists. Chinese version (thanks to Pengyi for translation).