Meknes – Morocco’s Minister of Energy Aziz Rabbah has urged the creation of an African fund dedicated to biodiversity. His call came during a virtual session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (CMAE) with the theme “Strengthening Environmental Action for an Effective Recovery in Post-COVID Africa,” which ran from November 30 to December 4.
The fund initiative would enable African countries to better manage and develop their natural resources, according to Rabbah.
Morocco’s environment minister stressed that the post-2020 global biodiversity framework constitutes an opportunity to catch up with delays and give the subject the international attention it merits.
The repercussions of the pandemic worsened global warming, biodiversity loss, and pollution. However, the crisis “offers an opportunity for African countries to establish a sustainable and low-carbon growth with several opportunities for investment, jobs, and added value,” added the Moroccan official.
Morocco has made crucial progress in addressing climate change. Notably, King Mohammed VI launched three climate commissions when Morocco hosted COP22 in 2015. These include the Congo Basin Commission, the Sahel Commission, and the Commission of Island States. “Africa, a continent which is suffering from the impact of climate change, must be a priority in our collective action,” the monarch said in a message to the 2019 Climate Action Summit in New York.
Minister Rabbah stressed Morocco’s continued commitment to work with other African countries to recover from the pandemic with a resilient, low-carbon approach.
African ministers in charge of energy departments, the executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the president of the UN Assembly for the Environment (UNEA), the executive secretaries of the UN Conventions on Climate Change and Biological Diversity, and the executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification also attended the videoconference.
They aimed to agree on a common African position for international environmental conferences in 2021. These include the 5th Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 5) in February, the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in May, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.
African environment ministers adopted a declaration during the conference that pledged multilateral efforts for a green and inclusive economic recovery.
