Preparations are underway for the conference on future energy challenges, organised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and the Parliament of Morocco, within the framework of the Energy Sectoral Group of the PAM Panel on External Trade and Investments, to be held in Ouarzazate, Morocco on 14-15 September 2012.
The event, under the title of “The Energy Challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean Region”, will gather national parliamentarians from PAM member states, key actors and major stakeholders in the Mediterranean energy sector, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, European Financial Institutions, the UN System, the Association of Mediterranean Regulators for Electricity and Gas (MEDREG) and the Association of the Mediterranean Transport System Operators (METSO), to discuss the current situation and future developments in the production, distribution and consumption of energy in the Mediterranean.
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” PAM Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi said, adding that “The proliferation of uncoordinated initiatives, and the need to streamline approaches, both require the outmost attention by PAM parliamentarians in order to ensure the effectiveness of policies and investments”.
This regional parliamentary hearing in Morocco builds on a series of Round Tables to identify reliable stakeholders, sustainable projects, and provide parliamentarians with concrete elements for their national and regional deliberations. The Conference sessions will be dedicated to: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in the Mediterranean Region; Technical and Industrial Challenges; the role of National Parliament and Regional Organizations in support of ongoing and future initiatives: the need for a coherent approach.
Participants will also have the opportunity to join an on-site briefing and a field visit to the Concentrated Solar Power Plant site in Ouarzazate, a first concrete step in the Euro-Mediterranean solar energy plan.
PAM maintains that the challenges concerning the Mediterranean region, and in particular a rising energy demand and the need for environmental protection, should be tackled with the best commitment of all stakeholders, strengthening the dialogue, the collaboration and cooperation (within the countries and at the regional, international and global level) between Institutions (Parliaments, Governments, Regulators), public and private operators (education, research and development, industry, trading, finance, communication), consumers, and their Associations and Representative Organizations.
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, Senator Lhou Lmarbouh (Morocco), PAM Rapporteur on Energy, 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.