Energy ministers and delegates from 23 countries and the European Union on June 2, 2016 met  at the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7).  Representing 90 percent of global clean energy investment and 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, they agreed to launch an enhanced effort – called “CEM 2.0” – to increase its effectiveness by creating an international secretariat to support CEM initiatives. Hosted by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, the meeting included, among others, Maroš Šefčovič, the European Union’s Vice President for Energy Union; Carlos Moedas, the EU’s Commissioner for Research, Science, and Innovation; James Carr, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources; Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, Mexico’s Secretary of Energy; Motoo Hayashi, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry; Harsh Vardhan, India’s Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Tord Lien, Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy, and Yin Hejun, China’s Vice Minister of Science and Technology. In a video address, President Obama welcomed participants to CEM7. The EU will host CEM9 in 2018.

CEM members, nearly 60 companies and non-governmental organizations, and 10 subnational governments announced more than $1.5 billion in commitments to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies and increase energy access. Three new, high-impact campaigns were announced that will promote the procurement of electricity from renewable energy, commercial and industrial energy efficiency, and advanced cooling technologies.

The new Corporate Sourcing of Renewables Campaign focuses on driving additional deployment of renewables across the range of CEM member countries. RE100, a global business initiative led by The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, as an action of the We Mean Business coalition, has estimated that if 1,000 of the world’s most influential businesses become 100 percent powered by renewables, they could decarbonize almost a tenth of all electricity used worldwide and cut more than 1,000Mt of CO2 every year. Already, corporate purchase of power in the UnitedStates has supported more than 8 GW of projects, up from just 0.6 GW in 2009, and globally more and more companies are seeking out clean energy. CEM member governments and partners joining the CEM campaign will work to significantly increase the number of companies powering operations with renewable energy and deploy supportive policies and resources that can help facilitate additional corporate sourcing of renewables. Germany and Denmark are announcing that they are leading this campaign, and China, the European Union, Mexico, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States are joining.

(Phote courtesy: IISD/ENB/Franz Dejon)