TeraMed’s Campaign to Unlock the Mediterranean's Renewable Energy Potential

The Mediterranean region, home to over 500 million people, is warming at a rate 20 percent faster than the global average, making it one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. This warming threatens not only ecosystems and water sources but also critical industrial sectors such as agriculture. At the same time, growing populations and economic development are driving increases in energy demand, placing immense pressure on already strained energy systems.

These harsh realities were on the minds of delegates from the region to the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan. And they have motivated NRGI to support the innovative TeraMed initiative over the fortnight-long meetings in Baku. The initiators and supporters of the initiative from both shores of the Mediterranean took advantage of the global gathering, organizing roundtables and panels to highlight the potential of the region to accelerate the development of clean energies, and urging governments to act. Led by IRENA and the Global Renewables Alliance, TeraMed will continue to campaign in Mediterranean countries beyond the COP gathering.

TeraMed is a bottom-up initiative launched by civil society organizations in the Mediterranean region. It aims to support climate change mitigation and also catalyze regional economic growth and promote energy equity between the northern and southern sides of the Mediterranean. TeraMed is pushing governments in the region to commit to accelerating the deployment of clean energy to reach a cumulative installed renewable energy capacity of 1 terawatt (TW) by 2030, in accordance with the global commitment made during COP28 in Dubai to triple renewable energies by that year. To reach that goal, the world needs to increase its energy production capacity to 11 TW.

This ambitious initiative underscores the region’s untapped renewable energy potential and its crucial role in driving the energy transition while addressing climate resilience and socio-economic disparities. According to ECCO, an Italian think tank and one of the initiators of TeraMed, the Mediterranean region has the potential and capacity to reach 4.5 TW from wind and solar; of that 3.5 TW could be generated from the southern shores of the Mediterranean. Also, according to ECCO’s study, pursuing the 1 terawatt goal could unlock investments of around USD 700 billion and create up to 3 million jobs in the direct supply chain of wind and solar.

The transition to renewable energy is no longer just an environmental imperative for the Mediterranean; it is also a strategic necessity. Solar and wind power offer a clear pathway to achieving energy security, reducing reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets, and addressing affordability challenges. However, unlocking this potential requires more than just ambition—it demands stronger regional partnerships, sustained investments, and effective mechanisms for technology transfer.

No government or society can stay neutral in the global fight against climate change, and countries must accelerate the just energy transition through clear commitments and inclusive processes. The TeraMed initiative focuses on two levels of commitment: national and regional.

Calling for country-level commitments

The initiative emphasizes that in order to achieve the one terawatt target, the governments of the region—from both northern and southern shores—must set clear national renewable generation targets. It also encourages governments to empower local communities to contribute to and benefit from renewable energy projects.

At the country level, the initiative calls for governments to endorse clear national renewable energy targets; this requires national capacities to assess needs and opportunities in order to set realistic and achievable targets. To achieve these energy targets, governments must overcome a range of regulatory and policy challenges that might be discouraging foreign investment.

Governments should also include local communities in decision-making processes. The social acceptance of renewable projects is crucial, especially on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. Communities need to understand how they will benefit from big energy projects, and this understanding will only come from governments who have a clear vision, targets and plans for making the energy transition an opportunity communities and citizens. These government plans should produce better environmental conditions, benefits in the form of affordable energy, and more efficient government spending.

In southern Tunisia, we at NRGI have worked to address these challenges by supporting the creation of RATÉJ (Réseau Associatif pour la Transition Énergétique Juste), the first coalition for a just energy transition in the region. This network brings together associations from areas hosting large-scale renewable energy projects, ensuring that local communities have a platform to advocate for their needs and priorities. By empowering these associations and facilitating dialogue between communities and policymakers, we have demonstrated the importance of inclusive governance in achieving social acceptance of projects and ensuring that the energy transition is an opportunity for everyone.

Regional cooperation for a just transition

Collaboration across Mediterranean nations is key to overcoming existing disparities in energy capacity. While some countries have made significant strides in renewable energy deployment, others lack the resources or infrastructure to follow suit. Closing this gap will require a unified effort to share technology, expertise and financing, creating a foundation for equitable growth across the region. By working together, Mediterranean countries set an example of how regional cooperation can tackle shared challenges while building a sustainable and resilient future.

TeraMed also calls for Mediterranean countries to collaborate more and better; create pathways for shared investments in advanced green technologies; and build a harmonized regulatory framework that supports a smooth energy transition.

The initiative is working toward interconnectivity between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. TeraMed organizers say that “an interconnected Mediterranean region opens new opportunities for green industrialization, leveraging processes of nearshoring, greenshoring and friendshoring to foster an environment conducive to the electrification of final consumption, additionally advancing socio-economic gains of the entire Mediterranean region.”

While this promises mutual gain for Europe, North Africa and the Levant, it could also lead to unfair outcomes. The southern countries have resources and sustainable development needs, and the northern countries have their decarbonization goals, the technologies and the funds. This constitutes an unbalanced starting point, and so the initiative should promote just transitions. So the northern partners in the initiative and the organizations working on promoting the deployment of clean energy must ensure that local companies in the southern countries equitably benefit from the projects, and that the projects stimulate substantial employment in North Africa. In addition, it is very important for civil society organizations on both sides of the mediterranean to together advocate for transition financing that will not add new debt burden on governments. 

The Mediterranean region holds immense potential to pave to way to what could be a just energy transition that involves countries from the global north and global south. The success of the just energy transition in the Mediterranean will depend on the political will to let go of extractivism, fostering collaboration across borders, investing in inclusive policies, and ensuring that no community is left behind.