Rabat – Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed to advance the energy transition in Morocco, as part of its Global Clean Energy Transition Program.
Morocco’s Head of Government Akhannouch on Thursday in New York welcomed the initiative in a meeting with fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who currently serves as Special Envoy to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Ambition and Solutions.
“The meeting was an opportunity to discuss the role that Morocco plays in the fields of energy transition and fight against climate change [and] the progress made by Morocco in terms of investment and important capabilities it provides in this field,” Akhannouch tweeted.
Bloomberg’s discussions with Akhannouch and Minister of Investment Mohcine Jazouli followed the philanthropist’s announcement to expand the geographic scope of his Global Clean Energy Transition Program into 15 developing countries – including Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Mexico, and Thailand – with abundant solar and wind potential, as well as growing demand for sustainable power.
“Today, we’re expanding our clean energy work to fifteen new countries,” Bloomberg said on Wednesday during the United Nations Climate Action: Race to Zero and Resilience Forum. “We’ll work with our partners on the ground to accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels and improve the health of their citizens and economies.”
The American billionaire, former New York mayor and presidential candidate, who has so far invested over $1.5 billion on climate and environment issues, insists that “The more we invest in clean energy around the world, the faster we can end the coal era, and the more lives we can save.”
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Citing data from BloombergNEF’s Climatescope, Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization stated that the 15 newly-added countries to the program have a total coal power plant capacity of 27.6 GW and an additional coal capacity of 8GW under construction or planning, which stresses the urgent need to support and finance the global energy transition.
“Critically, this support will serve 15 countries – particularly those in Africa – where renewables can help extend access to the affordable, reliable power that is essential for thriving, healthy communities, says Damilola Ogunbiyi, Co-Chair of UN-Energy and CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and.
Besides building a fruitful partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, Morocco has over the past years worked on sustaining numerous bilateral and global partnerships to decarbonize its industries and increase its renewable energy capacity in line with the UN sustainable development agenda.
While coal-fired power plants continue to dominate the national energy scene, accounting for 67.6% of electric output, Morocco aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the electricity mix by 80% in 2050.
