It's Springtime in the Desert

The DESERTEC vision is in continuous discussion between multiple stakeholders. So far, the main voices on the question how to develop and deploy large-scale renewable energies in the MENA region have been established by people and institutions from powerful countries of the North. However, for a broad implementation of the DESERTEC concept in the MENA region it is of key importance that the North African “Energiewende” will be developed along the needs and interest of the local stakeholders who have, so far, only gained little traction in the debate.

With the dual intention to (a) ensure that it will be first and foremost the MENA region that benefits from such a renewable energy transition and (b) to achieve alignment by all involved parties on the vision, challenges and opportunities, this paper provides an overview of discussions on how to safeguard the sustainable implementation of the DESERTEC concept through the application of a sustainability framework.

By doing so, the paper aims to answer the following questions:

Why is a sustainability framework for the DESERTEC concept needed? What could be the structure of a sustainability framework for the DESERTEC concept? How could a sustainability framework for the DESERTEC concept be developed? Who could be the target audience of a sustainability framework for the DESERTEC concept?

Furthermore, this paper identifies potential connections between the suggested sustainability framework and international climate finance under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and introduces possibilities for integrating a sustainability framework into international mitigation projects in developing countries.

Finally, the authors conclude with some recommendations which are intended to give guidance on improved decision-making processes that could pursue a better achievement of the DESERTEC vision, and also serve as a conceptual starting point for dialogue among all involved stakeholders on how to develop and effectively implement a sustainability framework for the DESERTEC concept.