Dialogue Forum with El Mostafa Jamea on „DESERTEC – Social and Environmental Consequences for North Africa” on Wednesday, 12 December 2012, 7pm, Galerie Listros

In the framework of the project “Paradoxes of Sustainability – How socially equitable are ‘green’ technologies really?” AfricAvenir invites you to a dialogue forum with El Mostafa Jamea on "DESERTEC – social and environmental consequences for North Africa" on Wednesday, 12 December 2012 at 7pm.

"Clean Power from the desert" for the local market in North Africa and to cover up to 20% of Europe’s energy need is the goal of the DESERTEC concept. Spurred on by the DESERTEC Foundation and the Dii GmbH it seeks the production of green electricity at energy-rich sites in the world, especially in the desert regions of Northern Africa. Projects are implemented so far in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.

In this dialogue forum the Moroccan energy expert Dr. El Mostafa Jamea will take a closer look at DESERTEC and its consequences: Do North African countries and their populations really benefif from DESERTEC, or is it just another project benefiting, besides a few local elites, the Global North through its import of  ‘clean’ energy and the selling of expensive European technologies to North Africa? Jamea analyzes, how many and which kind of jobs will be created by DESERTEC and how a profit-oriented, industrial initiative can keep the promise of  being a "win-win partnership."nProjects in the field of renewable energy require both components of modern high technology and conventional technology. Jamea explores the question  which components can be produced locally and which ones  (for now) have to be imported due to lack of infrastructure, expertise or adequate technology for the production? What does this mean for the national economy as well as for trade between the Global North and the Global South?

What are the consequences of the giant DESERTEC project for local ecosystems, what about water consumption of this big project in an already arid region and how do local communities respond to the project? Jamea discusses decentralized alternatives to DESERTEC developed at the local level and analyses the consciousnes of  local communities about these alternatives.  According to Jamea it is the responsibility of local governments  to implement and promote these alternatives.

Dr. El Mostafa Jamea holds a PhD in sustainable management of resources fromthe Polytechnic University of Marche (2009).  Mr. Jamea is  asenior expert for  Renewable Energy and Climate Change and a member of the German-Moroccan competence network (DMK).

The dialogue forum will be held in English.

The project takes place with financial support of the BMZ and the Landesstelle für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (LEZ).

Wednesday, 12 December 2012, 7 pm
Admission: On donation nGalerie Listros
Kurfürstenstr. 33
10785 Berlin
U1 Kurfürstenstraße | U2 Bülowstraße
Bus M19, M48, M85