The European Investment Bank (EIB) promises to pay special attention to the Mediterranean area for the preservation of its environment.
"There is a clear recognition that the Mediterranean region will be among the worst affected areas", said an EIB vice-president, Jonathan Taylor, at a specific meeting on financing green projects, which took place on the sidelines of COP 22 in Marrakesh.
Taylor confirmed the EIB's contribution to two big projects in the Mediterranean. The first is that of a solar energy plant in Ouarzazate, Morocco – "the biggest concentrated solar power plant in the world". The second is a seawater desalination plant in Gaza, Palestine – an area threatened by water stress. "Faced with this observation, the EIB is supporting the preparatory work for the construction of a large-scale desalination plant in Gaza, which will allow drinking water for 1.7 million people", Taylor stated.
Also present in Marrakesh was the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) which announced it would launch a "platform on renewable energy and energy efficiency" with the European Commission. Along with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the UfM will present a "big Mediterranean region project in the area of renewable energy for the private sector", to be financed under the EBRD's SPREF financial instrument which is specifically for renewable energy. This SPREF instrument is equipped with €227.5 million and is expected to enable up to €834 million in other investments to be mobilised to stimulate the development of private renewable energy markets in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan. The goal of the SPREF is to "break down barriers preventing the development of private renewable energy markets in SEMed [South and East Mediterranean] and the exploitation of the region's outstanding renewable resources", the EBRD states. (Original version in French by Fathi B’Chir)