Rabat – The United Nations Special Representative for Sustainable Energy Damilola Ogunbiyi and CEO of Masen Mustapha Bakkoury discussed Morocco’s role in achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDG’s) via video conference on Thursday.
The two officials discussed Morocco’s membership in the Paris Climate Accords and noted the successes of the UN’s COP22 conference in Marrakech which took place in 2016. During the COP22 conference, King Mohammed VI covered issues specific to Africa regarding climate change and new sustainable energy initiatives.
The topic of the desertification of Africa as well as the negative effect of greenhouse gasses on the climate led the King to unveil Morocco’s new initiatives that are in line with the UN’s sustainable development goals.
One new initiative that the King mentioned in his COP22 speech was the Adaptation of African Agriculture (AAA) project, which “aims to reduce the vulnerability of Africa and its agriculture to climate change,” according to Morocco’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development, Water, and Forests.
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Morocco’s much-praised leadership in renewable energy is evident through the country’s projects that have come to light in the last decade. Morocco’s Ouarzazate Noor solar complex in its southern provinces is unparalleled in size worldwide, and it supplies over 2 million Moroccans with renewable energy. Morocco’s investment in renewable energies has exceeded $5.65 billion (MAD 52 billion) since 2011.
“Morocco is committed to supporting countries wishing to develop access to sustainable and clean energy,” said Bakkoury in an official statement, emphasizing the North African country’s choice to do this “by relying on bilateral cooperation as well as on multilateral initiatives based on the principle of South-South Cooperation.”
Praising Morocco, the UN representative highlighted its involvement in the Coalition for Sustainable Energy Access for LDCs, or other such initiatives with the Islamic Development Bank and the African Development Bank.
The Masen press release also reminds that the UN’s High Level Dialogue on Energy named Morocco as a “high-level champion of dialogue” on the theme of “innovation, technology and data” earlier this year.
