Riyadh, September 22, 2020, SPA -- Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, will lead the 11th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM11) and the 5th Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI5). Both events will take place virtually as video conferences on 22nd September (CEM11) and 23rd September (MI5) respectively.
The meetings are part of the week of activities in the run-up to the G20 Energy Ministerial. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during its presidency of the G20, is advancing the Circular Carbon Economy (CCE) as a framework to accelerate transitions to cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions. This is within the context of the overall objective the Kingdom is promoting this year - “realizing opportunities of the 21st century for all”. The CCE applies the concept of the Circular Economy (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Remove) to the challenge of managing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, with the goal of restoring a healthy balance to our relationship with carbon.
Under the theme of “Supporting the recovery, shaping the future”, the CEM11 focuses on two key issues: CEM and its role in supporting a rapid, sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; and the vision and ambitions of CEM members for the next decade of cleaner energy.
As Mission Innovation nears the end of its initial five-year mandate, MI5 is a pivotal moment to determine the future of global innovation cooperation.
Ministers will discuss how a second phase can build on the impact to date, and further accelerate innovation over the coming decade through the launch of a mission-orientated approach towards supporting the recovery. In the second MI, Saudi Arabia is committed to promote technologies and solutions that address (GHG) emissions under the Circular carbon Economy platform, through, accelerating research, development, deployment, and dissemination of such technology.
Several side events are taking place on the margins of the Ministerial meetings to introduce and promote joint activities. These include extensive discussions between governments, private sector institutions and international organizations, touching on vital issues such as renewable energy, clean energy technologies, sustainability, and innovation. Discussions are also exploring ways of strengthening international cooperation to ensure affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all, while promoting global economic growth.
Created in 2010, with 25 countries besides the European Union as its members, the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a high-level global forum to promote policies and programs that advance clean energy technology, to share best practices, and to encourage the transition to a global clean energy economy.
On the other hand, Mission Innovation (MI) is a global initiative of 24 countries and the European Union working to reinvigorate and accelerate global clean energy innovation with the objective of achieving a significant breakthrough in performance and making clean energy widely affordable in a way that would revolutionize energy systems across the world in the coming two decades and beyond. This can be realized through increasing investments in the areas of research and development, and clean energy innovation, working closely with the private sector to scale up its investment in this field.
