Paris, France - U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that the United States will host the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) in San Francisco, California in June 2016. The announcement was made at an event in Paris during the COP21 UN Climate Negotiations.
The annual meeting of energy ministers and other high-level delegates from the 23 CEM member countries and the European Commission, taking place on June 1-2, will provide an opportunity for the major economies to collaborate on solutions that advance clean energy globally and demonstrate tangible follow-up actions to COP21.
The announcement was followed by a discussion among other CEM ministers on the role of the CEM post COP21 as a key implementation forum to help countries deliver on their respective national clean energy goals and build capacity to increase ambition even further over time. That discussion included Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ibrahim Baylan, Sweden’s Minister of Energy, Amber Rudd, United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and Lars Christian Lilleholt, Denmark’s Minister of Energy, Utilities and Climate.
“Holding CEM7 in San Francisco is an exciting opportunity for the United States to showcase one of America’s prime technology innovation ecosystems that is providing real-world solutions to combat climate change and drive the clean energy revolution in the U.S. and around the world,” said Secretary Moniz. “CEM is a key forum following COP-21 for energy ministers and other distinguished leaders to gather and implement the clean energy goals set forth in Paris.”
The announcement that San Francisco will host CEM7 follows President Obama's video message at CEM6 in Mexico last May that the United States would host CEM in 2016. The combination of the city and state’s role in advancing clean energy policies along with the concentration of clean technology companies, research and development, and the business community in the region were key deciding factors. San Francisco and the broader Bay Area, which encompasses Silicon Valley, is known as a global hub of the clean energy industry and is home to some of the most innovative technology companies that are playing a crucial role in advancing clean energy globally. California recently signed into law climate and clean energy legislation that sets aggressive targets for the share of the state’s electricity from renewable sources and for energy efficiency savings in buildings.
"I can think of no better place than California to play host to the world's clean energy leaders," said Governor Brown.
The CEM was launched in 2010 with the goal of accelerating the global transition to clean energy. The United States hosted the first ministerial meeting in Washington, D.C. with subsequent meetings hosted by the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, India, Korea, and Mexico. The CEM pairs the annual meeting of energy ministers with year-round policy-targeted technical initiatives and high-visibility campaigns to deliver high-impact on-the-ground results and enable proven policies and technologies to realize broader, faster, and lower-cost diffusion and replication among CEM and non-CEM countries.
In addition to Secretary Moniz, CEM7 is expected to include global energy leaders such as China’s Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang, European Commissioner for Climate and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete, and India’s Minister of Power, Coal & New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal. Leaders from the business and investment community working in clean energy are also expected to participate as well as leaders from international energy organizations, foundations, research institutes, and academia.