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Join on Telegram Rabat – Morocco’s sustainable development deteriorated in 2022, marking a double-digit year-on-year drop in its global ranking from 69th to 84th position.
Despite a sharp drop in its ranking, Morocco scored 69 out of 100 in the Sustainable Development Report which remains higher than the MENA average of 66.7. Still, it is lower than last year’s score of 70.5, which placed it 69th out of 165 countries.
However, Morocco has maintained two SDG achievements by taking measures on climate action and responsible consumption and production. The North African country is also on track to provide clean water and sanitation to all its citizens despite the government facing significant challenges in addressing the issue.
As the country struggles to offer sustainable access to water in water-scarce regions, the lack of such a valuable resource undermines the country’s largest economic activity, agriculture, amid global heatwaves and low precipitation.
The development of climate-resilient agriculture is therefore needed to meet SDG 2, known as the zero hunger objective which is highly connected to other goals such as SDG 1, focused on poverty eradication. While Morocco appears to score moderate improvements toward the two goals, the country has not yet achieved food security and sustainable agriculture.
Morocco is also poised to face challenges related to eliminating all forms of poverty as it continues to work towards attaining SDG 1.
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As of 2022, Morocco has faced major challenges related to SDGs goals on health and well-being, gender equality, affordable and clean energy, economic growth, and job opportunities, as well as protecting ecological systems on land and in water.
While Morocco has seen moderate improvements in health care services and equal access to clean energy, the country‘s efforts to reduce gender inequality, enhance economic opportunities, and preserve ecosystems are “stagnating,” according to the SDG indicators.
The stagnation is also seen in Morocco’s work related to the development of sustainable cities and communities, as well as building partnerships for the attainment of the 17 UN sustainability goals.
As Morocco shows moderate commitment to SDGs, sustainability indicators say, the country has to overcome significant challenges to provide quality education and infrastructure supported by strong institutions.
Today, the North African country has a high international spillover index of 97.4% compared to the MENA average of 94.2% and OECD average of 30%. This statistic highlights that Morocco is causing more positive and fewer adverse spillover effects related to the environmental and social impacts embodied in trade, economy and finance, and security.
As for the overall sustainable development index, Morocco ranked third in North Africa behind Algeria (64th globally) with a score of 71.5 and Tunisia (69th) with a slightly lower score of 70.7.
Morocco, however, outperformed the UAE which came 85th globally. Egypt followed in 87th position, ahead of Qatar (94th), Saudi Arabia (96), Lebanon (97th), Kuwait (101th), and Bahrain (102th).
African countries experiencing violent conflicts such as Sudan, Somalia, Chad, and the Central African Republic occupied 158th to 162nd places in the global ranking with scores below 50.
South Sudan has the world’s lowest sustainable development indicators. The East African country came last in the global ranking with a score of 39 out of 100.
Meanwhile, Finland led the global ranking with the highest score of 86.5; followed by Denmark (85.6), and Sweden (85.2). Norway and Austria secured the 4th and 5th positions with a score of 82.3 each.
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