5th WestMED Stakeholder Conference - Session 2: Energy Transition Partnership

Thematic parallel session 2:

Energy Transition of Blue Economy sectors

Facilitators:
• Leonarzo Manzari: WestMED National Hub for Italy & Coordinator of the TG on Green
Shipping
• Marta Pascual: WestMED National Hub for Spain

Collaborators (Potential): Representatives from the Energy Transition Partnership for the EU Fisheries and Aquaculture (ETP)

 1. Background 

The energy transition for blue economy sectors involves moving away from fossil fuels toward cleaner, renewable energy to reduce carbon footprints and increase resilience to energy price volatility. Key efforts include improving energy efficiency in sectors like fisheries, developing marine renewable energy (wave, tidal, and offshore wind), and using ocean energy to power new applications like sustainable aquaculture (EU Blue Economy Observatory, 2023). 

In this sense, on 21 February 2023, the Commission presented a Communication on the Energy Transition of the EU fisheries and aquaculture sector to support the sector to become more economically resilient to high energy prices and, at the same time, reduce its carbon footprint. The main objectives of the measures are to promote the use of cleaner energy sources,reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and lower the sector's impact on marine ecosystems. 

To accelerate the energy transition in EU fisheries and aquaculture, coordination and cooperation between stakeholders should be improved. One of the key EU activities was the establishment of an Energy Transition Partnership for EU fisheries and aquaculture (ETP) with the objective to develop a roadmap for the sector's climate-neutral energy transition by 2050. It brings together stakeholders from the fisheries and aquaculture sector, as well as research institutes, public authorities, the shipbuilding sector, port authorities, energy providers, non-governmental organizations and financial institutions. 

This session is therefore conceived as a discussion session where main work and outcomes of the ETP will be presented to the wider audience with the aim to provide a discussion fora to tackle decarbonization efforts on EU and non-EU fisheries and aquaculture sectors. 

2. Goals and objectives 

The overall goal is to present main outcomes and efforts of the EU Energy Transition Partnership to the wider Mediterranean EU and non-EU Countries. 

Specific objectives:

• To present the EU Energy Transition Partnership Structure, objectives and goals. 

• To present first set of overall recommendations from the EU Energy Transition Partnership. 

• To present the work that the S3 SAFA Alliance is pursuing. 

• To establish and guide a discussion on main challenges and opportunities of some of these proposed recommendations from an EU and non-EU context. 

• To synthesize key discussion points and deliver these as outputs to the EU ETP process.

3. Session flow

The session will employ an interactive and participatory approach, ensuring active engagement and concrete results.

14:30 Welcome, Intro 
Introduction by facilitators. Overview of the session's ambitious goals with Mrs. Marta Pascual; Spanish National Hub WestMED Initiative and ETP Support Leader

14:40 Setting the Scene 
Setting the Scene in Decarbonisation and Energy Transition Efforts on Blue Economy Sectors in the Mediterranean & presenting the work of S3 SAFA Alliance with Mr. Leonardo Manzari; Italian National Hub
WestMED Initiative and ETP Support Leader

14:55 Keynote expert - Energy Transition Partnerhip
Ambition, goals and outcomes of the EU Energy Transition Partnership with Mr. Manuel Pleguezuelo – DG MARE – Online intervention

15:10 Summary of Main Recommendations coming from ETP
Short summary of main recommendations coming from ETP discussions up to now with Mrs. Marta Pascual - Spanish National Hub WestMED Initiative and ETP Support Leader & Mr. Leonardo Manzari - Italian National Hub WestMED Initiative and ETP Support Leader

15:40 Interactive workshop: discussion on recommendations
Participants will have the chance of discussing, prioritising and commenting on some of the recommendations previously presented. 
Interaction could be live at the premises or throughout using MENTIMETER tool.

15:50 Synthesis & Summary 
Facilitators will summarise the key outcomes of the Interactive workshop discussion.

4. Target audience

The session is designed for a multi-stakeholder audience, including:
• Fisheries representatives (Local Action groups, etc.)
• Aquaculture producers (SMEs and industry representatives)
• Port Authorities
• Shipbuilding companies
• Researchers and academics from marine and aquaculture science institutions
• National and regional policymakers and public authorities
• Representatives from technology and service providers• Members of professional associations and clusters
• NGOs and civil society organizations focused