Sep 15, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Morocco is Still a Climate Change Champion

(MACP) — From September 11-13 the city of Agadir hosted the second annual Climate Chance Summit. It was the largest gathering yet of non-state actors engaged in the fight against climate change. Over 2,000 participants from nearly 80 countries gathered to discuss the importance of engaging non-state actors as key stakeholders in climate negotiations. They also emphasized their capacity to support and implement action toward individual countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDC) agreed upon at COP21 and COP22.

The three-day Summit resulted in the Declaration of Agadir, which outlined nine conclusions:

  1. Non-state actors are stakeholders in negotiations;
  2. The 2018 Facilitation Dialogue is a key step in ensuring that current contributions are commensurate with the objectives of the Paris Accord;
  3. The Paris Accord was adopted by consensus and it must be supported;
  4. Non-state actors pay particular attention to the stakes of adaptation for the most vulnerable territories, especially on the African continent;
  5. Current financing pledges are not sufficient to meet the challenge;
  6. The role and participation of non-state actors is essential to action;
  7. Non-state actors highlight the importance of sectoral considerations (transportation, energy, buildings, agriculture) and long-term roadmaps;
  8. Climate science can benefit from the knowledge of non-state actors;
  9. The community of climate actors has come together in proposing a vision of the transition to be implemented with regard to the diversity of needs, means, and challenges.

The Climate Chance Summit was the second time that Morocco has hosted a major climate conference. The Summit built upon the discussions that took place during the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 22), which took place in Marrakech in November 2016.

Morocco’s decades-long commitment to clean and sustainable energy is widely recognized. The 2017 Climate Change Performance Index ranked Morocco alongside France, Sweden, and the UK in the top ten most climatically conscious countries, and number one in the developing world, based on criteria including CO2 emissions, renewable energy development, efficiency, and climate policy.

“In addition to its unwavering commitment to sustainability, Morocco has a vibrant civil society and substantial experience – and a successful record – of utilizing public-private partnerships to further policy goals,” said former US Ambassador Edward Gabriel. “Non-state actors looking to strengthen their role in combating climate change have a great example in Morocco.”

For more on Morocco’s environmental initiatives, take a look at our fact sheet.

The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.

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