Energy: EU grants 5.5 million euro to MEDENER for more sustainable Mediterranean

The European Commission has funded with 5.5 million euro the third phase of the project meetMED^[1], developed by MEDENER to advance the transition to climate-neutral economies in the southern Mediterranean. MEDENER is the Mediterranean Association of National Energy Management Agiencies whose president is ENEA Director General Giorgio Graditi and whose secretary general is Roberta Boniotti, also from ENEA. From 2018 to date, it has coordinated the first two phases of the project meetMED which involves eight Mediterranean countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon).

MeetMED III has two main objectives: promoting more sustainable cities and strengthening climate change mitigation actions by supporting local authorities in developing the PAESCs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans) and the SUMPs (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans), also to encourage membership in the Mediterranean section of the GCoM (Global Covenant of Mayors). The activities include: capacity building; tools to access funding; organization of the SEI (Sustainable Energy Investment) forums; monitoring of energy policies; technical assistance to implement local adaptation and mitigation strategies; energy efficiency measures, with a focus on the building sector, through policy support, development and monitoring of efficiency tools and collaboration with the project Peeb Med (Program for Efficient Buildings in the Mediterranean Basin); facilitating access to funding for energy efficiency projects through SEI forums; promoting the exchange of best practices among members of the meetMED REN (Network of Regional Experts) network.

 “This important result testifies not only to the European Commission's commitment to energy transition in the Mediterranean region, but also to the quality of the work done by MEDENER. It also reinforces Italy's role and position in the European and Mediterranean context, representing a significant opportunity to expand the project's mission, in favor of a multilateral and integrated approach, from the national to the local level, crucial for the energy transition in a region particularly exposed to climate change like the Mediterranean” said Giorgio Graditi, president of MEDENER and ENEA director general.

 “This new phase of the meetMED project highlights the growing importance of MEDENER's National Energy Agencies in shaping more stable and efficient socioeconomic frameworks that can ensure greater resilience to climate change,” explained MEDENER Secretary General Roberta Boniotti. “The Agencies,” she concluded, ”are focal points for supporting the implementation of national energy policies at the local level, while ensuring the comparison and exchange of best practices among countries in the region.