IRENA at the 81st United Nations General Assembly / Climate Week NYC
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will take part in high-level events during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Climate Week NYC, which runs back-to-back with UNGA in coordination with the UN and the City of New York. IRENA engages throughout the week to strengthen international partnerships and advance action on the global energy transition.
This year, IRENA and Director-General Francesco La Camera will use the platform to advance the electrification agenda, positioning electrification as one of the most immediate and cost-effective ways to cut emissions, strengthen energy security and improve affordability. The Director-General will take part in a series of high-level sessions with governments, industry and partner organisations to build momentum towards a global electrification target and the grids, investment and renewable capacity needed to deliver it.
Across the week, IRENA will co-organise a number of initiative-led sessions through the Alliance for Industry Decarbonization (AFID), Global Geothermal Alliance (GGA), Coalition for Action (CfA) and Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), where IRENA serves as the Secretariat.
Agenda
| New York, NY, USA |
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| 10:15 – 11:30 EDT / 18:15 – 19:30 GST |
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Deep dive on Build Clean Energy Now Hosted by ITA in cooperation with IRENA, AFID and ETC, this session convenes senior leaders from government, industry, energy companies, offtakers and finance to explore how clean energy supply can be secured at the scale, speed and price that industrial transition demands. It considers how offtake agreements and financing can de-risk early investment, how governments can accelerate infrastructure and market design, and how electrons and molecules, often developed and financed separately, can be sequenced and connected so neither is left short of the energy it needs to scale. |
| New York, NY, USA |
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| 14:00 – 15:30 EDT / 22:00 – 23:30 GST |
| Grids for the Electric Age Hosted by GRA in cooperation with IRENA, UNEZA and GGI (part of the Global Renewables Summit 2026), this roundtable convenes ministers, business leaders, financiers, civil society and philanthropy to turn commitment into implementation, making grids and storage the enabler rather than the bottleneck of secure, electrified energy systems. Discussions will centre on what must change in planning, finance and cooperation to make grids the foundation of the electrified economy. |
| New York, NY, USA |
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| 14:00 – 15:30 EDT / 22:00 – 23:30 GST |
| Powering Industrial Decarbonization: Accelerating Electrification through Partnerships Hosted by the Alliance for Industry Decarbonization (AFID), together with the Coalition for Action and Guidehouse, this roundtable explores how electrification can accelerate decarbonisation across hard-to-abate industries. Participants discuss the enabling policies, renewable energy integration, financing mechanisms and cross-sector partnerships needed to scale industrial electrification and support a competitive, low-carbon industrial transition. |
| New York, NY, USA |
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| TBC |
| Green Hydrogen: Scaling Global Partnerships for Industrial Decarbonisation and Energy Security This executive roundtable brings together industry, governments and financial institutions to discuss how partnerships, enabling policies and innovative financing can accelerate green hydrogen deployment. Hosted by AFID, supported by TOPSOE, this session draws on AFID's recent work on hydrogen hubs and industry recommendations, the session identifies practical actions to scale green hydrogen value chains for industrial decarbonisation. |
| TBC |
| Grids in Transition Convened within the Annual Offshore Wind Transmission Conference (US) and hosted by UNEZA, Hitachi Energy and Global Transmission Report (GTR), this panel explores how resilient and diversified supply chains can support the unprecedented scale-up of infrastructure required for global electrification. The conversation turns to transformers, cables and critical equipment manufacturing, strategic procurement, industrial partnerships and international cooperation to accelerate transmission expansion while easing supply chain constraints. |
| TBC |
| Mobilizing long-term capital for grid and renewable energy infrastructure Hosted by IRENA, UNEZA and GGI, this roundtable convenes ministers, business leaders, financiers, civil society and philanthropy to turn commitment into implementation by advancing a global mechanism to mobilise investment in grid infrastructure and accelerate power system flexibility. Discussion will focus on the policy, financing and collaborative actions needed to unlock investment, strengthen grid resilience and flexibility, and enable the transition to an electrified, renewable-based energy system. |