Think inside the box

By Frank Wouters, Director, MED-GEM Network

As part of the Kuwait Sustainable Energy Week, organized by RCREEE and the Kuwait Ministry of Electricity and Water and Renewable Energy, we participated in the 5th Energy and Climate Business Forum organised by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). Public and private sector representatives from the Gulf countries, the Mediterranean area and the EU discussed how to collaborate on sustainable energy initiatives.

Many people said many smart things about the benefits of regional and cross-regional collaboration to make our future energy system more cost-effective and resilient, but one comment stuck with me. Somebody said we should consider the European Union, the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries and the GCC countries as one future energy unit.

This is also in line with the new European Commission’s organizational drive to include Mediterranean and GCC countries in the newly established DG MENA. Of course, we need to work within the frameworks we have, but I believe there is much to gain from such inclusive thinking, rather than thinking in separate regions. There are many exciting initiatives in terms of enabling cross-border infrastructure (inter-connectors, pipelines and ports), harmonization of standards, investments across borders, joint production of equipment, and the linking of markets.

Perhaps it is time to think inside the box, rather than outside the box.