Committee: The Union for the Mediterranean

Topic: Encouraging renewable energy exploitation in the Mediterranean

Country: The kingdom of Morroco

Delegate: Nguyen Khoa Dieu Huyen

Exploiting renewable energy is a common trend in the world to replace fossil energy resources
that are gradually depleted, and limit the change to the extreme level of the climate. Despite
being invested and developed rapidly in recent years with impressive achievements in several
countries, renewable energy, in general, is still very modest in the overall picture of energy
globally. The efficient use of energy, especially the use of renewable energy, will improve air
quality for the people, reduce political risks by limiting dependence on imports as well as
creating green development. Moreover, the sources of fossil fuels are being exhausted, so the
research and use of new renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, or biomass is
an indispensable need.

In general, the countries of the South and Eastern Mediterranean countries have great potential
for development in the field of renewable energy with high levels of solar radiation, windy, and
significantly favorable terrain (1). The Mediterranean countries consume about 8% of the energy
demand worldwide. Following this momentum, according to the OME’s “Business-As-Usual”
scenario, the total energy consumption in the Southern Mediterranean countries will double by
2040 (2) .Facing the long-term problem, many organizations, unions, and countries in the region
and the world have come up with many resolutions to minimize the loss. Three UfM energy
platforms were established in 2015 and endorsed by the UfM Ministerial Conference on Energy a
year later to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all”(3).
Furthermore, the adoption of the Paris Agreement under the UNFCCC marked an important stage
in the global response to this issue. All southern Mediterranean states but Libya have ratified or

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(1)https://www.iemed.org/observatori/arees-
danalisi/arxiusadjunts/anuari/iemed2013/Varouxakis%20Renewable%20Energy%20EN.pdf

(2)https://www.medener.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Transition-%C3%A9nerg%C3%A9tique-
enM%C3%A9diterran%C3%A9e-sc%C3%A9nario-2040-en.pdf

(3)https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/goal-07/
are in the process of ratifying the agreement. This will consequently provide more stable,
efficient, competitive, and climate-resilient socioeconomic contexts while improving energy
independence and decreasing emissions (4).

Morocco is the only country in North Africa without natural oil reserves and is the largest energy
importer in the region with 96% of its energy demand coming from abroad (5). However, despite
the lack of industrial processes that can produce kerosene and gas from natural sources, Morocco
has implemented a series of strategies to develop renewable energy and prioritize energy
sustainability. Morocco's main alternative energy source is solar and wind power. The Moroccan
government has set an ambitious goal of renewable energy usage reaching 42% of energy needs
(2GW of solar and 2GW of wind power) by 2020 (6). Morocco is investing more than 13 billion
dollars in renewable energy development to minimize reliance on fuel imports. In November
2009, Morocco implemented one of the world's largest and most ambitious solar programs with a
total investment of 9 billion US dollars. Morocco's solar program is considered a milestone for
national orientation to ensure sustainable, clean, green energy supply at reasonable prices. Ain
Beni Mather integrated solar thermal power station, launched in 2011, is one of the most
promising solar projects in Africa. The total cost of the project is 544 million US dollars, of
which 43.2 million is funded by the GEF, two loans from the African Development Bank (AfDB),
and Official Instituto de Credito (ICO). In 2010, the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy
(MASEN) was established to carry out these projects (7). Its mission is to implement the overall
project and to coordinate and monitor other activities related to this initiative(8).

In conclusion, the Mediterranean countries face the current energy and climate challenges and
therefore expect multilateral responses and corporate actions. There is a need for increased
collaboration in energy and climate action areas and an opportunity for Mediterranean countries
to achieve the ultimate goal of promoting integration and socio-economic development in the
region. Morocco is pleased to cooperate with countries in the area to improve the environmental
situation as well as encourage renewable energy exploitation.

(4)https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

(5) https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/installed-capacity-rising-meet-moroccos-growing-energy-demand

(6) https://www.ecomena.org/renewable-energy-in-morocco/

(7)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_Agency_for_Sustainable_Energy

(8)http://www.masen.ma/