Tonga's ratification of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Statute in November last year, made it one of the first nine countries in the world to be a full member of IRENA, the Tongan Prime Minister Hon. Dr Feleti Sevele, said in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, this week.

In a speech to the Third Preparatory Commission meeting of IRENA on January 17, Dr Sevele expressed his appreciation for the assistance that Tonga had been given since it signed the IRENA Statute in June last year at the Second Preparatory Commission meeting in Sharma El Sheik, Egypt.

After signing the Statute there was a request to the IRENA secretariat for technical assistance in the preparation of the Tonga Energy Road Map (TERM). He said that technical assistance was mobilized and within two months, a draft technical report on the TERM was completed.

"This, in development partner timeframe, was an unprecedented response from any international organization, let alone one that is still in its formation stages," he said.

The Tongan Government in 2008 approved a policy of 50% renewable energy electricity generation by 2012, he said, and "the Tongan Government's goals of achieving 50% electricity generation through renewable energy sources is one of my highest priorities, hence my personal attendance at this 3rd Preparatory Commission."

IRENA was officially established in Bonn, Germany on 26 January 2009. Today, 138 states and the European Union ar signatories to the Statute of the Agency; among them are 46 African, 36 European, 32 Asian, 14 American and nine Australia/Oceania States. The nine Pacific States that have signed the Statute are: Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Only Tonga and Palau have ratified the Statute.

Preparatory Commission

The day after IRENA was established in 2009 a Preparatory Commission was established.

The Preparatory Commission consists of IRENA's Signatory States and acts as the interim body during the founding period. The Commission will be dissolved after entry into force of the Statute, which will occur when it has 25 ratifications. The Agency will then consist of an Assembly, a Council, and a Secretariat.

The Tongan delegation to the Abu Dhabi meeting was lead by the Prime Minister, Dr Feleti Sevele and it included Lord Tuita, the Minister for Lands, Survey and Natural Resouces; Va'inga Tone, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and 'Akau'ola, Renewable Energy Coordinator for the Tonga Government.