Denver – Morocco’s Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali held a virtual meeting with Greg Hands, the UK’s Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth, and Climate Change.
The two officials discussed several environmental issues ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 26.
They highlighted Morocco’s participation in the upcoming environmental conference and the country’s role as a regional and global leader in the fight against climate change.
Morocco’s noted embrace of renewable energy under the leadership of King Mohammed VI was another topic the two officials discussed during the meeting.
With the UK and Morocco both being leaders in renewable energy production in their respective regions, both ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of energy and climate.
The UK will host the upcoming COP 26 conference from November 1-12 in Glasgow. The COP conference is the leading global climate change forum, meeting under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Being the first COP to be held since 2019, due to last year’s event being postponed, the event is projected to draw an estimated 30,000 people from over 200 countries.
Other parties involved will likely include NGOs, climate-focused businesses, and faith groups.
However, criticism has been leveled at several world leaders who announced they would not be in attendance at this year’s event. Among them are Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Alok Sharma, a UK politician serving as the president of this year’s conference, has said that the main goal of COP26 would be the acceleration of climate change initiatives in adherence to previously established agreements to lower global warming to below 1.5 degrees celsius.
But the absence of global players like China and Russia, which are among the most significant producers of global pollution, has raised questions about both the relevance and projected impact of a world governments-sponsored marathon of climate-related discussions.
