More security and stability with DESERTEC?

On May 6 2010 an expert workshop took place in Berlin, organized by Germanwatch, the European Climate Foundation and adelphi.

The workshop titled “DESERTEC – building block of a new security architecture within the EU-MENA region?” is part of the information- and dialogue-platform Environment, Conflict and Cooperation (ECC). Several speakers highlighted the opportunities and challenges of the DESERTEC Initiative, whose goal is to establish a solar energy partnership between states of the Middle East (ME), Northern Africa (NA) and the EU. Such cooperation could not only help to fight global challenges like climate change, scarcity of fossil fuels and water deficiency, but also promote stability in the southern Mediterranean region. The discussions, however, made clear that in the future it will become even more necessary to take domestic and energy policies into account, while facing the challenges of international security.