FEMIP and Plan Bleu propose solutions to climate change in Mediterranean

Philippe de Fontaine Vive, EIB Vice-President with responsibility for the Mediterranean, and Henri-Luc Thibault, Director of Plan Bleu, unveiled a study on the subject “Climate change, energy and water in the Mediterranean”. The economic and human impact on the Maghreb and Mashrek countries will be considerable, but improvements are possible: combined actions in the energy sector will yield annual benefits worth at least USD 30 billion from 2015 onwards.

It is still possible to mitigate climate change in the Mediterranean region. Investing now in energy efficiency, renewable energy and the modernisation of power generation can create jobs and produce substantial annual economic benefits from 2015 onwards: from USD 30 billion (or the equivalent of Tunisia’s current GDP) with an oil price of USD 120/barrel, to 43 billion with an oil price of USD 175/barrel and 49 billion if greater efforts are made to develop renewables.

But this requires a fresh approach to management and tariff policies in the energy sector, major transfers of technological know-how and greater harmonisation of energy policies with management of the water, urban development and tourism sectors.

The summary and conclusions of the study can be viewed on the EIB’s website: http://www.eib.org/projects/publications/climate-change-and-energy-in-the-mediterranean.htm.