The discussion will be held in both Arabic and English, with simultaneous interpretation available.

For the Arabic Agenda, click here.

You can register to attend by contacting Mutasim Mahhaden, email: "mutasim_mahhaden@dai.com" for physical attendance, which will take place in the "Berlaymont building – Robert Schuman Hall, Rue de la Loi 200, 1049 Bruxelles, Belgium". Pre registration is mandatory to attend the event in person.

For online attendance please use this link: webex with password mnFXrr4y$34. Alternatively, you can watch the event live here on Med Dialogue Facebook page.

The European Union, as part of its commitments to a sustainable environment, has launched several projects to invest in renewable energy in the MENA region, enhance the MENA region’s electricity infrastructure and strengthen political, economic and energy cooperation across the Mediterranean.

There is a need to better understand and assess the impact of these projects on local communities, especially those that are affected by the economic, political and environmental crises in the MENA region, and to reflect on how the shift towards more renewable energies in MENA can lead to a more equitable sharing of the benefits of these new source of energy and a better governance of energy sectors in the Southern Mediterranean.

Building on the discussion of the just energy transition, ARI is proposing an in-depth policy discussion to initiate a regional dialogue with the European Union representatives and MENA energy scholars, advocates, practitioners, and other actors to understand the EU energy policies and financial mechanisms vis-à-vis the MENA region and explore pathways to strengthen transparency and accountability for these projects.

Panel 1: 9:30am-11am CET: EU and MENA Energy Partnerships: Who benefits from these partnerships? Are these projects helping the Southern Mediterranean achieve its energy transition? What are the existing financial mechanisms?

Climate finance trends have been criticized in recent years due to their over reliance on unsustainable loans and for preferring more lucrative mitigation projects, despite the urgent need for money to be invested in adaptation projects. The EU has developed several energy strategies vis-a-vis the MENA region with the hopes of diversifying its own energy sources, notably after Russia’s war on Ukraine, and of further developing its relations with the Southern Mediterranean. While those attempts to expand the EU’s energy reliance away from Russia have been praised by many analysts, there are concerns that these deals are not helping MENA countries meaningfully move away from hydrocarbons and that renewable project are not fully benefiting local communities in the Southern Mediterranean or that they could strengthen certain authoritarian regimes across the region. The discussion will seek to understand the scope, aims, mechanisms, and outcomes of current energy policies and investments as they apply to the MENA region, explore what sort of projects are being funded, identify and discuss any gaps or disparity in policy implementation, and analyze how debt restructuring can benefit a more equitable distribution of projects and financial systems in the MENA.

Moderator: Nadim Houry, Executive Director, Arab Reform Initiative
Panelists:

• Dario Trombetta, Programme Manager in Charge of Energy and Climate Finance, EU Delegation in Tunisia
• Salim Rouhana, Lead Climate Change, MENA World Bank
• Diana Kaissy, Executive Director of the Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative, Lebanon
• Karim Choukri, Researcher, Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis (MIPA), Morocco
• Ahmad Zahran, Founder of Karmsolar, Egypt
• Mohammad Sabry, Research Fellow at ARI, Tunisia

Panel 2: 11:30am-1pm: Broadening the Stakeholders: How to Better Engage Local Communities in Energy Transition Discussions?

This discussion will explore how the EU and affiliated entities such as the EBRD as well as other financial institutions can best involve a broader range of actors in planning and implementing energy projects in MENA in a way to ensure that the benefits of an energy transition are more equitably distributed. The discussion will identify ways in which current investment strategies can be modified to ensure greater environment justice and sustainability by engaging local actors to share their perspectives on just environmental transition, particularly how they perceive the EU’s positions on energy policies in the region in the MENA. It will address how energy transition initiatives in the MENA create significant challenges and opportunities around job creation. The discussion will also critically analyze local initiatives in countries with failed governance, and propose alternatives to current models and trends.

Moderator: Sarine Karajerjian, Environmental Politics Program Director, Arab Reform Initiative
Panelists:

• Stefano Panighetti, Program Manager for Energy & Local Development Economy, Green Deal and Local Development Section, EU Delegation, Lebanon
• Eero Ailio, Deputy Head of Unit, Internal Market: Retail Markets Coal and Oil) at the Directorate-General Energy, European Commission
• Yasmina El- Amine, ARI’s Research Fellow, Tunisia
• Muzna Al Masri, Researcher and Co-Founder Ebla Research Collective, Lebanon
• Monica Carrion, Project Manager, Moroccan Institute for Policy Analysis, Morocco
• Soha AbdelAty, Deputy Director, Alternative Policy Solutions (APS), American University in Cairo, Egypt
• Fawzi Kalash, Mayor of Beishmezzine Municipality, Lebanon