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The International Renewable Energy Alliance held a side event today during the COP18 in Doha "Towards 100 % renewable energy: Case studies and examples from regions and municipalities". The aim of the side event was to demonstrate that all over the world, effective climate change mitigation is happening on the ground, by communities, regions and countries that are heading towards a full renewable energy supply.

Speakers from all REN Alliance partners, representing all renewable energy technologies, highlighted municipalities and regions that have reached or are on the way to a 100 % renewable energy supply. Examples were presented from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Senegal, and Sweden.

The Sustainable Business Institute proposed a strategy on how the Green Climate Fund could be approached to become a key institution in supporting renewable energy investment mainly in the developing countries. One instrument would be a global feed-in tariff scheme, as proposed by the REN Alliance already at the COP15 in Copenhagen.

During the discussion, participants of the side event proposed to create a new long-term strategy for climate change mitigation, which focusses on a 100 % renewable energy future. Such a strategy could bypass the current blockage of the climate change negotiations that are mainly centered around burden sharing and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Strong support came from the audience for such proposal to work on a campaign for 100 % renewable energy.

It was also agreed that national policies and international frameworks such as the Green Climate Fund could speed up this transition towards renewable energy.