RCREEE launches the First High-Level Policy Dialogue to promote renewable energy and Energy Efficiency in the Mediterranean region

October 1,2018- Vienna, Austria: The Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) organized a session on “investment enabling environment” within the 10th Arab Austrian Economic forum and exhibition in Vienna, Austria.

Within its’s session, RCREEE launched the High level policy dialogue (HLPD) discussing international cooperation in the Arab region to further facilitate sustainable investments in North Africa and the Middle East.

As the first sustainable energy platform, the HLPD discussed investment and financial tools in the fields of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency which foster climate change mitigation, including climate finance concessional funding and means to access them. Possible financing sources considered included the European External Investment Plan (EIP), GCF and other concessional financing initiatives for financing relevant Climate Actions.

“We are honored by our partners’ enthusiasm to cooperate on this very important topic. We believe there is much we can do together to avail sustainable energy investment mitigating climate change. RCREEE is committed to act as the “catalyzer “for developing and putting in action the outcomes of the HLPD and introducing them at ministerial level along with HLPD key stakeholders “said RCREEE Executive Director Dr. Ahmed Badr.

The dialogue gathers a unique and diversified mix of expertise around one table from the governmental sector, funding and banking institutions, Regional organizations, investors and private sector, and UN organizations.

Representing the governmental sector, RCREEE welcomed CFO of EETC Mr. Mohamed El Sisi who delivered a keynote message on behalf of H.E. Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy in Egypt, Eng. Mohamed Shaker. Besides, Dutch Envoy for Water and Energy Security for the MENA region, Ms. Tessa Terpstra and Palestinian Energy and Environment Research Centre (PEC) Director, Eng. Ayman Ismail also participated as panelists in the session.

Siemens Egypt CEO, Eng. Emad Ghaly, Arab-German Chamber of Commerce Industry Board member Mr. Jürgen Hogrefe and Enel Green Power were the key presenters of the private sector. In their messages they tackled the needed actions for an enabling environment for sustainable environment and strong and dynamic financing mechanism.

Besides high level panelists from UN organization (UNIDO, UNOPS, UN environment), financing institutions (FMO, OFID,) banking sector (IsDB, Austrian Kontrollbank and AfDB) and regional organizations and communities (MEDENER, RES4MED, REN21) enriched the topic with their comments on the need for a strong government support. They also tapped on successful funding mechanism solutions which are currently available in the region.

The HLPD will continue in a series events aiming to come up with an initial well-articulated and well-studied list of bankable and realistic projects, ideally based on countries’ National Determined Contributions.

“We have just started and we will continue the dialogue in its second round in Barcelona in January 2019” announced Eng. Kraidy in his presentation on the sustainable energy status in the Arab region.

To watch the live stream of the video please click here

To meet our panelists, please click here

The introductive presentation and HLPD key messages are also available.