How start-ups are innovating to turn climate crises and water shortages into opportunities

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) constitute about 95% of total enterprises in the South Med region and are considered the driving forces of economic growth, job creation and green and inclusive growth. Entrepreneurs, particularity start-ups, still face numerous challenges when it comes to establishing, promoting and running their businesses. Providing them with support through innovative initiatives and enhancing the ecosystem where they operate will contribute to their development. In their turn, entrepreneurs will contribute to achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It is in this context that the Next Society (TNS) project and FEMISE decided to launch this initiative to produce “The Next Society Policy Briefs Series”. This series of briefs aims to better understand the challenges faced by entrepreneurs (through the lens of the entrepreneurs themselves) and to provide tailor-made operational policy recommendations. These briefs are based on collaborative work and exchange of knowledge and experience between the researcher(s)/author(s) and the entrepreneur(s), many of which have benefited from TNS project, ensuring their relevance and impact.

Energy and water security, two essential resources for human and economic development, are now more interdependent than ever. The impact of the climate change in the South Med region has revealed the need to act quickly and efficiently to mitigate negative effects and to address many challenges associated with increasing water scarcity and inefficient energy consumption.

The pandemic provides a strategic opportunity for countries to reassess priorities and in particular to give more space to renewable resources (IEA, 2021). This is all the more relevant in the Mediterranean region, which includes some of the most attractive markets in terms of renewable energy (RECAI – Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index).

The objective of this policy brief is to assess the status of the water and energy sectors in the South Med region and to highlight the opportunities in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation, through the example of three start-ups from Algeria, Lebanon, and Morocco that benefited from THE NEXT SOCIETY project (funded by the European Commission).

The transition to an environmentally and socially responsible model in the energy and water sectors must take advantage of innovative entrepreneurship. This paper analyses the motivations of Mediterranean entrepreneurs to create their start-ups, their innovations, the main challenges they faced and draws recommendations to support innovation and accelerate industrial and technological development in this region.

You can read the entire brief by following this very link : https://www.femise.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Policy-Brief-7-BEN-SAAD.pdf