Casablanca — A recent article by CNN has shed light on the multiple efforts Morocco has made to create more sustainable energy, becoming a leader in the fight against climate change.
Casablanca — A recent article by CNN has shed light on the multiple efforts Morocco has made to create more sustainable energy, becoming a leader in the fight against climate change.
And CNN is right. Morocco has, for a long time, been a leader in this field. The COP22 international climate change conference currently held in Marrakech is a clear indicator of Morocco’s desire to get more involved and assert its leadership in this battle.
In 2016, the nation started building the world’s largest solar plant, Noor-1. When it is completed in 2018, “it will power one million homes and make Morocco a solar superpower,” says CNN.
By 2020, adds CNN, the nation “plans to generate 40 percent of its energy from renewables.”
The 2016 Climate Change Performance Index, which was produced by German non-profit ‘Germanwatch,’ has also ranked Morocco as tenth in the world in terms of its ability to fight climate change. “Countries like Morocco,” says the study, “show the potential of developing countries to move forward.” Moreover, the fact that Morocco is the only non-European country in the top 20 says a lot about the nation’s accomplishments.
The index, however, also warns Morocco that it should not “follow the development pathways of industrialized countries, but instead choose a cleverer and cleaner development path.”
Becoming a leader in this tough fight against climate change was no easy task. Said Mouline, director of the National Agency for the Development of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, told CNN that they began by looking for ways to decrease the nation’s energy bill.
Fossil fuels saw a halt in subsidies and the clean energy sector started benefitting from private investments. Energy efficiency and renewables were the two key elements to this transition, Mouline told CNN. One important step was making lightbulbs more energy efficient, reducing power consumption a great deal.
At COP22, Morocco set an example for other African countries looking to reduce their carbon footprint. “We are switching, all over the world,” Mouline added. “Last year, more money was invested in clean energy than fossil fuels for the first time. Look at how many new jobs renewables, energy storage and electric mobility have created,” he continued.
CNN also notes the various challenges faced by Morocco in its fight against rising temperatures, namely the nation’s vast dry zones. The efficient use of water is crucial.
That said, Abdeladim Lhadi, High Commissioner for Water, Forests and the Fight Against Desertification of Morocco, says Morocco has “made a lot of progress in the use of water, especially in agriculture which absorbs 85 percent of our supply. That’s why we’re looking at new technologies for our 1.2 million hectares of irrigated areas, to preserve our food security.”
Saying Morocco has accomplished a lot in the fight against climate change would not be an overstatement. It is clearly a leader in its content and in the world — it proves that first world countries should not bear the entire responsibility in the fight against climate change. Nonetheless, the nation still has a long way to go. All nations do.
