Conclusion: towards a renewable energy transition in the Middle East and North Africa?

For the Middle East and North Africa the notion of a renewable energy transition is no longer beyond the limits of technical possibility. This conclusion examines one proposed sustainability transition – the DESERTEC energy community – that has received high-level political support in Europe and also has influential champions in the Middle East. The DESERTEC vision anticipates an unprecedented level of regional cooperation and regional investment in renewable energy. There are significant but not insuperable obstacles to such an energy transition in the Middle East and North Africa: a necessary condition for overcoming them is the ‘descuritisation’ of energy governance, such that energy sustainability, climate change governance and human security are recognised as mutually reinforcing development paths.