The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) participated at the thirteenth meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea, dedicated to “Marine renewable energies”, held at the UN Headquarters in New York, from 29 May to 1 June 2012.
PAM was represented by Senator Lhou Lmarbouh, Rapporteur on Energy, who outlined the Assembly’s initiatives related to security, sustainable development, energy efficiency, renewable resources, and civil nuclear energy.
Senator Lmarbouh said that the Assembly is fully aware of the urgent need to elaborate effective methods to produce green energy and the Mediterranean region must play a key role in this process, due to its geographical position and its climate. “Our basin has a unique potential for the production of solar energy, and several projects are being developed on the southern shore of the Mediterranean”, PAM Energy Rapporteur said.
Energy will also be the topic of a dedicated session at the PAM’s forthcoming High Level Conference of the PAM Panel on External Trade and Investments in the Mediterranean, to be hosted by the Portuguese Parliament in Lisbon on 29 June 2012, and organized in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The PAM parliamentarian also elaborated on the need of a stable and sound regulatory framework as a key factor to liberalize and integrate energy markets, especially in a period of important socio-political changes characterising the Mediterranean region. This will foster investments in energy infrastructures.
With reference to the Association of the Energy Regulators of the Mediterranean Region (MEDREG), Sen. Lmarbouh expressed PAM’s belief that it should receive full support from the Governments of the region, in order to become a permanent institution, so that it can strengthen its pivotal role as a leader to harmonise the regional energy regulations, aimed at driving economic growth and social progress in the area.
Furthermore, PAM’s commitment to the key energy issues, will be broadened through a major conference on Renewable energy, with focus on Solar Energy, to be hosted by the Parliament of Morocco on 14-15 September, 2012, in Ouarzazate, where the participants will be able to visit the Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project, a first step in the Euro-Mediterranean solar energy plan.
Sen. Lmarbouh concluded his intervention saying that in his capacity of Rapporteur on Energy, he will suggest to the PAM Bureau to focus for the year 2013, some initiatives on this topic, which could contribute to reduce greenhouse emissions and provide the Mediterranean region with a reliable alternative source of energy, for the good of the Mediterranean peoples.