MADRID - The Spanish Government and REN21, an international policy network dedicated to building a sustainable energy future with renewables, have co-hosted the International Conference on Renewable Energies in Spain (SPIREC 2023). The conference brought together high-level representatives of governments, as well as the private sector, academia and civil society, to deepen and broaden the conversation about how to achieve an energy system that supports sustainable development and climate objectives.

Representatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) participated in discussions on how to accelerate the decarbonization of the energy system. UNIDO is an active member of REN21 and is a member of the organization’s steering committee and board. The Organization also has a long-standing partnership with the Spanish Government and values Spain’s leadership in sustainable energy.

A high-level panel discussion titled ‘Energy and industrial polices to mainstream renewables’ addressed the importance of integrating industrial and energy policies and planning to accelerate the update of renewable energy supply. In his intervention, Ciyong Zou, Managing Director of UNIDO’s Technical Cooperation Services Directorate, said, “Integration of renewable energy in industry needs to make business sense,” adding, “We need to pull the demand levers more effectively and provide the right incentives to accelerate the uptake of renewable energy in industry.”

UNIDO organized a session on technology pathways for decarbonization of energy intensive industries, with speakers who examined the status of readiness of different technologies for industrial decarbonization, shared examples and best practices for enabling the development of new technologies, and discussed how government policies can create the right pull mechanisms to boost innovation and deployment.

The speakers concluded by underlining the role of partnerships in creating a win-win solution for industrial decarbonization in developed and emerging economies. They also highlighted the need to have a common approach to carbon pricing, which should be a financial enabler that will incentivize the competitiveness of green technologies. Finally, the panel concluded with a call for integrated policy roadmaps with ambitious climate goals. 

UNIDO also participated in a side event on the decarbonization of the electricity sector where the panel called for increased coordination across sectors, as well as between public and private actors. It also touched on the need to scale financing towards zero-carbon technology and new business models to deploy zero-carbon products.

On the sidelines of the conference, UNIDO and REN21 agreed to collaborate together in building momentum towards the international year of renewables and the International Renewable Energy Conference in Australia in April 2024, and to use the Vienna Energy Forum as an important stepping stone in that process.