MENA CSOs/NGOs Working on Renewable Energy, Low Carbon Development and Climate Protection

Civil society actors are key agents of a transformation into a post-fossil society. They can influence policy-making and shape the awareness of the general public and specific constituencies, such as consumers, workers and farmers.

However, civil society groups and the broad public in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region are currently only rarely working on renewable energy and thus have been little involved in the development of the transformation process towards a sustainable development pathway.

With the aim to increase civil society involvement in the fields of renewable energy, low carbon development and climate protection in the MENA region, this study provides an overview of around 40 civil society and non-governmental organisations (CSOs/NGOs) from 12 MENA countries which would be interested to increase their political engagement.

The study clearly shows that CSOs in the MENA region are willing to build a platform of trust, dialogue and cooperation which enables civil society to become an active player in the transformation of the energy system across the MENA region and engage with political decision-makers (state) as well as the private sector (market) at all levels (national, regional, international) to push for a shift to a post-fossil society.