Argentina today became a formal partner of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).

Argentina is the thirty-first country to become a partner of the REEEP, an international public-private partnership that promotes policies and regulations in support of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Argentina joins Brazil, Chile, Guatemala and Mexico as the fifth Latin American government to join REEEP.

By joining forces with the REEEP, Argentina intends to contribute to the development of regional policies by participating in the initiatives across the Latin American region. Argentina looks forward to accelerate the dissemination of renewable energy projects as a means to improve energy security while lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

"In the Latin American region Argentina is playing an active role in the energy dialogue to support policies and regulations that significantly incorporate the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy into the energy mix," said Daniel Cameron, Secretary of Energy.

Argentina's REEEP membership is another example of its commitment towards global climate protection and to sustainable development. Establishing international cooperation links with this initiative will allow increasing the development of environment-friendly renewable energy sources. These actions have already been launched with the enactment of the law 25029 on the "Promotion of Wind and Solar Energy", and several existing legislative initiatives which reflect the high interest of the institutions in advancing renewable energy.

Marianne Osterkorn, REEEP International Director, sees the commitment of the Argentinean government as a major step towards expanding the necessary policy changes required to create a marketplace for renewable energy.

Across Latin America REEEP is funding seven projects, including both national and regional initiatives in Mexico to develop policy frameworks in support of renewable energy. In Guatemala REEEP is collaborating with GVEP and Fundación Solar to assist the Government with the country's first ever National Energy Policy. In Brazil, finance models will be developed for renewable energy projects in the Amazon as part of Brazil's Universal Access Program (Luz para Todos) and the partnership is also assisting Petrobras with the development of a commercial ESCO.

REEEP is active globally, with over 58 on-the-ground projects targeting the development of policy or financial models that can be replicated by governments and project developers worldwide. The partnership has more than 160 members, including all G8 countries with the exception of Russia. In 2005, Angola, Canada, Chile, France, Hong Kong, Mexico, and South Korea all joined the REEEP in order to support their domestic renewable energy and energy efficiency programmes