2018 OSCE Mediterranean Conference

The annual OSCE Mediterranean Conference, to be held in Malaga will provide a multilateral platform for addressing challenges and opportunities arising from the importance of energy for economic growth and co-operation in the Mediterranean. The high-level event will gather the participants from the OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation, and a range of regional and international organizations.

Recent developments clearly demonstrate that security in Europe is closely linked with security in the Mediterranean as a whole and that economic, energy and environmental issues are increasingly important factors of the Euro-Mediterranean security equation. The decades-old OSCE Mediterranean Partnership, traditionally geared towards the goals of peace, stability, and prosperity, has much to gain from the enhanced dialogue on energy and environmental cooperation.

Guaranteeing sustainable and reliable energy at affordable prices is the precondition for prospering economies and peace and security throughout the OSCE and its Mediterranean Partners. Arguably, there is hardly another domain than energy in which the indivisibility of Euro-Mediterranean security is more important and consequential for the stability of States, the prosperity of the local economies, and the well-being of societies around the basin and beyond. Traditionally at the centre of the world’s fossil fuel market, the Mediterranean region is now increasingly becoming the main driver of energy innovation and transformation.

The development of clean or renewable energy technologies can provide economic opportunities to countries with substantial conventional energy resources as well as those who lack such resources by offering an alternative means to power their economies and generate jobs for their citizens. Renewable energy today is embraced as a key solution to the triple challenges of energy supply, security and climate change, which are all of the concern in the Mediterranean region.

The OSCE serves as a platform for dialogue and co-operation in a number of fields and offers a suitable venue for exchanging best practices and building capacity to maximize the economic benefits of renewable as well as of traditional forms of energy, facilitating public and private partnerships and the transfer of know-how. Against this backdrop, the 2018 Mediterranean Conference, and in particular its high-level political segment, will focus on how to leverage energy to promote economic growth and international co-operation in the Mediterranean region.

Organized by the Slovakian Chairmanship of the OSCE Mediterranean Contact Group and Spain, in co-operation with the OSCE Secretariat, the conference will bring together key energy experts from the public and private sector from both sides of the Mediterranean to discuss policies, develop strategies and identify business opportunities. While energy enables economic development, it also contributes two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions and is, therefore, critical for the climate change process. Co-operation in securing the energy supply, transit and demand chain, and the use of new and renewable sources of energy should aim at building a vision for a sustainable energy future in the 21st century in the Mediterranean region and beyond.

The Conference will also serve as a platform to further develop dialogue and enhance co-operation for the sake of enhancing security in the Mediterranean, in line with the OSCE principles and commitments.

Discussions on Twitter at @OSCE or using hashtag #OSCEMed.

Participation in the Conference is by invitation or registration only.