COP 22: Live from Africa

Moroccan authorities have revealed this mid-February, a team assigned to organize the 22th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); the COP 22. The Moroccan part on international negotiations on climate will take place from November 7 to November 18, 2016 in Marrakech. Seven Moroccan personalities have been selected by the royal palace for the organisation of the conference, and the steering committee presidency is entrusted to the foreign affairs Minister, Mr Salaheddine Mezouar.

In Marrakech, documents and procedures for the future treaty between 195 nations will have to be pinpointed. A preparatory summit will take place on April 22nd, 2016 in New York to formalize the state parties commitments.
 
The COP 22 will also be an opportunity for Morocco to exhibit its renewable energy projects, wind and solar particularly, such as the Noor thermo-solar complex, the largest solar power plant in Africa, which was lastly inaugurated on February 4th in Ouarzazate.
 
Thus, Morocco represents the African continent. However, the conference preparation comes amidst an election year in the country; where in fact the general election will take place a month before the COP 22 in October. The provisional budget for the event is of about 80 million Euros.
 
The kingdom has also promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 13% in the period between 2010 and 2030. Currently they are emitting 2.1 tons of CO2 per inhabitant and per year from the country use of fossil fuels, and this represents far less than the European average emission (7.3 tons), as well as the world average (4.9 tons).
 
With this regards, the city of Marrakech aspires to become an ecological model; a leader of the Moroccan ambitious “green projects”: fields of solar panels, electric buses, etc.
 
This COP 22 will also offer an opportunity to give other countries on the continent a voice in terms of sustainable development and ecology. Morocco promises to put an emphasis on the electrification of Africa.
 
Hakima El Haité, the Ministry in charge of the environment, wishes this COP 22 to be a synergy of actions, realisations and solutions. It will have to establish “control tools and mechanisms to make sure the state parties meets their commitments”, as she has confirmed in a round table organised by Amadeus Institute early March in Rabat.

On her side, the representative of the African Bank of Development (AfBD) in Morocco, Mrs Yacine Fal, has called on the private sector to invest for the COP 22. According to her, it is going to be “a COP for Africa which must prove that it has endeavours, to achieve, and this will strongly depend on the private sector.” She promised that the AfBD will support the transition to a green economy by the end of 2020, as well as to facilitate Morocco to have access to international financial schemes such as the Climate Funds. These funds amount to 500 billion dollars, of which only a very small portion invested in Africa for the last three years. The Green Climate Fund on its side has got 10 billion dollars per year to invest in low-emission and climate-resilient development in the world.

 
In 2017, the COP23 will take place in Asia, in a country which remains to be nominated.

Image courtesy of Wafaa Berrada/Tontonfranky/Creative Commons