MPs commit to climate action at our hearing

Our recent parliamentary hearing in Hammamet, Tunisia, is now concluded and the participants returned home, and we're pleased to report that it was a success. The two day meeting brought some fifty MPs from around the Mediterranean together with policy analysts, investors, and legislative experts for debate and discussion around renewable energy policy and finance. The sessions explored the exciting possibility of renewable energy exports from the sun-drenched countries of North Africa to the consumers of Europe - a win-win proposition that would drive development and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Maghreb, while helping the EU meet its ambitious climate goals more cheaply than relying on domestic supply.

Highlights of the event included the opening address from the Tunisian Minister for Energy, Mr Kamal Ben Naceur, a fascinating panel on interegional grid networks, and UNDP's Mr Charles Chauvel exploring practical options for how MPs can play a vital oversight role in setting government climate policy. At the conclusion of the event, the national groups of MPs from Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Libya declared their strong commitment to climate action, and announced their plans for next steps when they returned home - including a Libyan commitment to work towards including climate in the new constitution, and a detailed 21-point plan to improve the draft Tunisian renewable energy law, currently under review in Parliament.

A full report on the event is currently being prepared, and will be published on the website in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we'll be posting a link to the presentations and photographs from the event very soon.