Rabat – Morocco and the European Union (EU) signed on Saturday a joint statement, detailing that the EU will provide the North African country with 50 million euros (MAD 548 million) to support green energy and carbon removal programs.
The signing took place on the sidelines of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known at COP 28 in Dubai, in which Morocco’s Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Laila Benali is participating.
Benali signed the agreement along with Gert Jan Koopman, Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations.
Benali said the agreement comes to activate terms of partnership between Morocco and the EU as outlined in the green partnership the two signed in 2022, recalling that the North African country was the first to sign such a deal with the EU.
She added that the agreement concerns reforms in renewable and sustainable energies in Morocco, including green hydrogen, with the funding meant to support research efforts in the field, as well as carbon removal programs.
According to Koopman, the agreement will also make a massive contribution to the economic development of North Africa, particularly in the field of clean technology and green energy.
He added that “the huge capabilities of renewable energy sources on the shores of the Mediterranean” will allow for the development of advanced industries in the region.
In October 2022, Morocco and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a green partnership between them, becoming the first country to do so.
“Why a green partnership and why Morocco? First, because there is a coherence between the priorities of the place and the priorities defined by King Mohammed VI,” Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said on the occasion.
“For years the King has made the fight against climate change and the promotion of renewable energy an important axis of Morocco’s development strategy,” he added.
Read also: Morocco Becomes First Country to Sign Green Partnership with EU
