The fifth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM5) concluded earlier this week in Seoul. Hosted by the Korean Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE), CEM5 was held on 12-13 May, 2014 and brought together energy ministers and other high-level delegates, as well as the private sector and other stakeholders to discuss progress on CEM’s overarching goal: accelerating the transition toward a global clean energy economy.

Secretary Moniz and Minister Yoon Sang-Jick co-chaired the gathering and used this fifth CEM meeting as an opportunity to assess options for making the most productive use of CEM in the future. Six public-private roundtables also gave high-level delegates and private-sector thought leaders the opportunity to engage on a diversity of issues at the forefront of clean energy policy and technology. These roundtables focused on:

• Energy-Efficient Cooling and Demand Response
• Renewable Energy for Sustainable Growth and Employment
• Energy Storage Systems: Challenges and Opportunities
• Electric Vehicle Integration in Power Systems
• Facilitating Access to Low-Cost Capital to Scale Up Renewables
• The Energy-Water Nexus: Overview and Relevance for the CEM

The Model CEM Program was also inaugurated at CEM5 and provided university students from 17 different CEM countries the opportunity to gain an insider’s look into the Ministerial process and clean energy innovations. The university students participating in the Model CEM program delivered their final “Joint Declaration on Creating a Clean Energy Society” to all delegates, roundtable participants, and media gathered at CEM5.

Ministers announced that the CEM would explore three additional workstreams: market accessibility of clean energy products, clean energy finance, and the energy-water nexus.  CEM5 concluded with a clear commitment to renew and reinvigorate the Clean Energy Ministerial.

The sixth Clean Energy Ministerial meeting (CEM6) will be held in Mexico in 2015.