Currently, the Mediterranean area has an estimated 552.0 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar and wind capacity under development at a cost of US$792 billion. This is greater than the entire planned capacity of the U.S. at 548.3 GW says California-based analysts Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
Nearly two thirds of the capacity is expected to be in use by 2030 - growing the region’s wind and solar production from 251.6GW to 361GW.
“Countries across the Mediterranean are not starting from scratch,” comments Hailey Deres, GEM senior researcher. “In the energy transition. COP31* offers a chance to showcase the incredible progress that has been achieved so far and as well an opportunity to build on that groundwork.”
Spain is an example of Europe’s renewable transition adds Deres, ranking it first in utility-scale solar with 108.8 GW production and third in wind with 56.5 GW. Households are already saving €10 a month on household energy bills.
Meanwhile Egypt is emerging as a leader in the Southwest Asia and North Africa subregion with nearly 100 GW of prospective wind and solar development and 37.7 GW of renewable capacity tied directly to green hydrogen applications.
Overall, the Mediterranean region holds renewable potential of 2,300 GW, representing over twice the EU's current capacity, with solar and wind costs 30-40 percent lower than in Europe.
However despite the opportunity, many countries remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels, leaving them exposed to price shocks, geopolitical tensions and lagging climate goals, says EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica.
“At a time of geopolitical uncertainty, growing energy demand and increasing climate pressures, unlocking this potential is in the shared interest of both the EU and its southern Mediterranean partners.”
According to a climate risk scorecard produced by GEM, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, the US$7.3 trillion invested in 244 oil, gas and coal companies by 20 private equity funds has produced 1.5 billion tons of CO2 (greenhouse gas) emissions annually - ranking the group in fifth place behind the overall carbon outputs of China, U.S., India and Russia.
“The scorecard highlights a staggering exposure of private equity to fossil fuel assets,” says GEM project manager Alex Hurley. “The data provide clear evidence to fund managers and investors to choose the level of risk they are comfortable with in this rapidly changing climate,”
Acknowledging the growing investment in renewables that now provide nearly half of Europe’s power, UN Climate Change executive secretary Simon Stiell notes it saved €30 billion in gas imports in the first six months of the war between the Trump Administration and Iran.
“I ask the EU to throw itself behind helping COP31 in Türkiye to deliver further progress,” he adds. “The Turkish COP31 presidency, working closely with Australia, has set targets including 35 percent of final global energy demand met by electricity by 2035.
“We live in a polarized age. Health, jobs, community and prosperity matter to us all. And every one of them demands action on climate.”
*COP31 (31st Conference of the Parties) is the latest UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since 1995, the summits have served as a global platform for negotiating and advancing collective action against climate change. This year, Türkiye and Australia are co-hosts.
