This paper analyses Spain’s climate diplomacy in line with the Elcano report titled ‘Towards a Strategic Updating of Spain’s Foreign Policy’ and the State Foreign Action and Service Law (Ley de la Acción y del Servicio Exterior del Estado, LAESE).
On 28 June 2013 the Shah Deniz Consortium (SDC) took a historic decision that put an end to a decade-long pipeline race to bring Central Asian gas to Europe. The big loser was Nabucco, a project that the European Commission once considered ’strategic’ for the opening of the Southern Gas Corridor.
On 14 October the European Commission made public its selection of the first set of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) regarding Europe’s energy infrastructure.
Since the November 2011 legislative elections, the Moroccan government led by the Justice and Development Party (PJD) has struggled to keep the economy on track despite the global economic crisis and the impact of the Arab revolts.
Beyond their environmental impact, climate change and energy security involve associated risks related to economic vulnerability and international security. Addressing these challenges will require a new, ambitious multilateral post-Kyoto agreement and a global deal between energy suppliers and importers. Sharing competences on climate-energy issues, the EU and Member States have a responsibility to provide joint, effective responses at the global governance level.
In recent years there has been a rapid expansion in the global renewable-energy and energy-efficiency technology markets. However, most low-carbon technologies require so-called ‘hi-tech’ or ‘critical’ metals, for the majority of which the EU’s member states have high import dependency rates.
Renewable energies remain marginal in the European neighbourhood, and their contribution to economic and human development is still largely unexplored.
From the point of view of political economy, a crucial point is whether the wave of popular revolts that overthrew the incumbent regimes will consolidate into economically-viable liberal democracies, and in what economic direction Algeria and Morocco will move, since to date they have been spared regime changes with a high budgetary cost.
Although the emergence of the US as an unconventional energy power is shifting the global energy balance, its geopolitical consequences for the EU should not be exaggerated and should not distract attention from Europe’s already pressing energy policy agenda.
The influence of the emerging economies on the energy markets is becoming as important as that of the developed economies. The new energy security agenda to be implemented in the coming years will have to deal with this scenario.
Ecuador’s energy policy faces a complex variety of political and economic objectives that are difficult to reconcile in a consistent manner.