Energy issues, at a time of rising costs, increasing demand and environment protection challenges, were discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi and the Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Mr. Adnan Z. Amin, during a bilateral meeting held in Malta, on the occasion of IRENA’s international summit on Renewable Energy and Islands (6-7 September 2012). Present at the meeting was Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs, Malta, Hon. George Pullicino.
‘While exploration, extraction and use of fossil fuels continue to be the major source for the production of energy, on the other hand research, development and the introduction of alternative and more environment-friendly sources are gaining momentum in the Mediterranean region’, explained Dr. Piazzi. He also referred to the importance of collaboration by all stakeholders and referred to two importance regional organizations, namely the Association of Mediterranean Regulators for Electricity and Gas (MEDREG) and the Association of Mediterranean Transmission System Operators (Med-TSO), with whom PAM is unfolding a series of specific activities in order to deal with the energy sector from a holistic point of view covering, economic, environmental, security and stability issues.
PAM Secretary General also referred to the upcoming event in Ouarzazate, Morocco (14-15 September 2012), under the title “The Energy Challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean Region”. In Ouarzazate, the focus will be on the “Present Status of Renewable sources of Energy in the Mediterranean Region and on the related institutional, regulatory, legal, technical, industrial and financial challenges in the Mediterranean.
Furthermore, this regional parliamentary hearing in Morocco builds on a series of PAM organized Round Tables, aimed at identifying reliable stakeholders, sustainable projects, and above all to provide parliamentarians with concrete elements for the legislative processes, at both the national and international level, in order to guide and at the same time pave the way for further sustainable development in the area of energy generation, supply and distribution at an affordable cost to the end users, be they simple households, industry and business concerns.
‘Closer collaboration between PAM and IRENA can further support the promotion and the accelerated deployment of renewable energy while working toward universal access to energy and the improvement of energy efficiency’, Mr Amin said.
