IRENA hunts for funds at UAE summit amid Trump climate cuts

The Trump administration’s retreat from U.S. global climate commitments is forcing an Abu-Dhabi based global energy organization to seek cash from corporate donors.

The International Renewable Energy Agency will solicit help from businesses as well as additional donations from member countries to patch up its budget, Director-General Francesco La Camera told reporters at its annual assembly in the UAE capital on Sunday. The meeting is the first in a series of environmental conferences marking Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

The U.S. contributes about 22% of IRENA’s budget and there are doubts over whether it will fulfill its obligation to give one year’s notice before ceasing payments. 

“This is what politics brings,” La Camera said. “We have to accept it and strive for the best.”

The Trump administration announced last week that it was withdrawing from 66 global organizations, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, that the President said were “contrary to the interests of the United States.”

Abu Dhabi houses IRENA in a custom-built sustainable office complex on the edge of its futuristic green community, Masdar City, and is a substantial donor, alongside Germany and other European nations. Hosting the organization has helped burnish the UAE’s reputation for leadership in the energy transition, despite being among the world’s biggest oil producers.