From COP21 to COP22

Renewables and Mediterranean Integration . . .

The Centre for Mediterranean Integration (CMI) as a space where all Civil Societies, Development Agencies, Governments, and Local Authorities of all countries of the Mediterranean meet for purposes of knowledge exchange, discuss public policies, and identify the solutions needed to address key challenges facing the Mediterranean region. From COP21 to COP22, there will be a lot of preparing for the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC that is scheduled to take place from 7-18 November 2016 in Marrakesh. 

For this, CMI published on May 27, 2016 the following article that is worth republishing here for its obvious interest to date.

From COP21 to COP22: Renewables and Mediterranean Integration

The Mediterranean region is likely to figure prominently in the discussions taking place on the road from COP21 to COP22, and during the COP22 event itself.  The Paris agreement addressed how much developing countries should take on climate change mitigation responsibilities, how developed countries should support developing countries financially to help them make those efforts, and how markets can effectively support mitigation.

Renewable energy will play a key role in achieving the climate change mitigation objectives included in the Paris agreement and the southern Mediterranean countries are endowed with a large renewable energy potential that can be deployed to help both northern and southern Mediterranean countries reduce CO2 emissions at least cost, if markets are better integrated. Mediterranean electricity market integration would provide the flexibility that power systems need to cope with the stress resulting from sudden and unpredictable variations in availability, which is characteristic of renewable energy. Markets would take advantage of geographically diverse renewable generation (making it unlikely that unavailability will occur simultaneously), differences in power generation structure across countries and different demand structures. Moreover, the developing countries on the southern shore have a clear comparative advantage over the developed countries of Europe in producing solar energy.

In the conclusions of the February 2016 council, the EU Foreign Affairs Ministers agreed to support implementation of the Paris Agreement by mainstreaming climate diplomacy in such areas as development cooperation, neighborhood policies and trade, and by exploring innovative mechanisms for mobilizing additional climate finance. Those actions may have a positive effect on the creation of an integrated Mediterranean energy market in support of climate policy.

The CMI has launched the Mediterranean forum on electricity and climate change that convenes small groups of stakeholders around a set of specific themes related to Mediterranean integration and electricity, such as trans-Mediterranean interconnection projects, power purchase agreements, or energy chapters of bilateral deep and comprehensive free trade agreements. The objective is to raise awareness on the benefits of Mediterranean energy market integration to support the transition to a low-carbon economy in MENA and Europe and to disseminate/share knowledge on the issues to be addressed to successfully achieve the Mediterranean energy market integration.

Objectives

The aim of first event of the forum is to discuss the role of Mediterranean energy market integration in delivering the Paris agreement. The first session addresses the policy and regulatory framework of the Energy Union and of Mediterranean integration. The second session focuses on the economics of electricity exchanges and interconnections, reviewing the available body of knowledge. A final session focuses on complementarity between public and private financing in pursuing Mediterranean electricity market integration.