Countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean region is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change and will increasingly be exposed to extreme climate events.
The region can play a major role in climate change mitigation, given its vast renewable energy potential. The Southern shore has a clear comparative advantage over Europe in producing solar energy.
The objectives of the Mediterranean Forum on Electricity and Climate Change are to raise awareness on the role and benefits of renewable energy in Mediterranean-wide efforts to transition to a low-carbon economy in MENA and Europe, and to disseminate knowledge on the issues to be addressed to successfully achieve Mediterranean energy integration. The Forum convenes small groups of stakeholders around a set of specific themes related to Mediterranean integration of power systems, such as trans-Mediterranean interconnection projects and power purchase agreements.
Awareness raising on the role of renewable energy in Mediterranean integration: Members of the Mediterranean Forum on Electricity and Climate Change from different horizons gathered to discuss, share knowledge and exchange views on the benefits of Mediterranean energy integration and the necessary actions to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement through concrete projects, such as powerline interconnections to support electricity exchanges, and solar power scale-up. (“Toward a Mediterranean Energy Market, Paris, France, December 2015; “From COP21 to COP22: Renewables and Mediterranean Integration”, Tunis, Tunisia, May 2016; “Energy Transition and Mediterranean Integration”, Tangier, Morocco, July 2016).
Recommendations to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement: Members of the Forum met for the workshop “From COP21 to COP22: Renewables and Mediterranean Integration” (Tunis, Tunisia, May 2016) and agreed on the following recommendations: (i) the European Directive on energy must take into account the contribution of renewable energy in the South to reach European targets; (ii) the power system flexibility needed to achieve the carbon reductions necessary for implementation of the Paris Agreement can be partially achieved through Mediterranean integration, which requires strengthening the interconnections between the two shores and; (iii) Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology is the renewable technology that is most suitable to provide power systems the flexibility needed, as it can easily incorporate storage.