More than 800 delegates from 150 countries are taking part.

With the UAE being confirmed as the agency’s home, it becomes the first truly international organization to be based in an Arab country.

About 90 ministers from different countries are attending the conference that ends on Tuesday at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center in Abu Dhabi.

“The UAE is honored to be the permanent home of IRENA and will continue to be a strong advocate for further global collaboration and the deployment of renewable energy,” said Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, UAE special envoy for energy and climate change and CEO of Masdar.

He also presided at the conference session on Monday.

“As an international center for renewable energy innovation, our nation will provide IRENA with a solid foundation for open, multilateral dialogue and real action,” he added.

Adnan Amin, a Kenyan national, who was selected as the director-general of IRENA for next four years, said: The UAE provides an environment that promotes the future growth of renewable energy and is a natural fit to be the long-term home to IRENA.”

Anwar Mohammed Gargash, minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said the UAE is a supportive global center for innovation in the field of renewable energy.

“It looks forward to working with all the IRENA members to contribute to the adoption of renewable energy solutions on a large scale in various parts of the world,” he said in his speech on behalf of Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed.

The UAE has emerged as a global hub for renewable energy development, demonstrated through a variety of actions including the inception of the Masdar initiative, the World Future Energy Summit and the Zayed Future Energy Prize.

Masdar City — Abu Dhabi’s sustainable, urban development - is an international center for collaboration on clean technology and renewable energy that is attracting partnerships with world-class businesses and academic institutions.

The minister said the UAE’s Masdar Initiative had been launched five years ago to develop

new technologies, to spread awareness of renewable energy solutions and to provide higher education based on research as well as building one of the most sustainable cities of the world.

He said Abu Dhabi had launched the annual Zayed Award for Future Energy in memory of the

founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.

The award aims to encourage innovation and to recognize distinguished achievements in the areas of renewable energy and sustainability.

IRENA, which as set up two years ago, represents both developed and developing nations dedicated to expanding renewable energy both domestically and abroad.

To date, 148 countries, and the European Union have signed the Statute of the Agency. Moreover, 64 countries and the European Union which ratified the statute of IRENA, participated in the Assembly.

Forty-eight African, 38 European, 35 Asian, 17 American and 10 Australia/Oceanic states are members of the agency.