Moroccan Pavilion at COP22 Sets the Tone of Action
Built in a typically original architectural style reflecting Morocco’s time-honored architectural know-how, the Moroccan pavilion has scheduled side events reflecting the Kingdom’s endeavor and achievements in the field of fighting climate change.
After a first day on the theme of water, forests and risk management, the Moroccan pavilion welcomed COP22 participants with side events on water and resilience. In this respect a conference was hosted in the pavilion with the participation of the ministers in charge of water in Morocco, Chad and Burkina Faso.
Speaking on this occasion, Morocco’s Minister Delegate in Charge of Water, Charafat Afilal, said that climate change takes a toll on the water cycle impacting the ecosystems of societies and hindering the achievement of sustainable development goals in Africa.
She highlighted Morocco’s international advocacy for global action to counter the devastating impacts of climate change on the water sector, saying that the momentum witnessed in terms of enhancing water resilience has been strengthened at COP21 and further consolidated during the International Conference on Water and Climate, which adopted the Rabat Call: “Water for Africa.”
For his part, Honorary President of the World Water Council, Loic Fauchon, commended the efforts spearheaded by King Mohammed VI enabling water to be considered as a main climate change challenge at COP22. “In Marrakech, it is the first time in COP’s history that water is put at the top of the agenda,” he said.
Fauchon noted that adapting the water sector to climate change requires a three-pronged approach smartly combining finance, governance and knowledge and recommended the inclusion in the “Blue Book on Water and Climate” of the solutions that will be developed in COP22.
In an earlier confernece in the same pavilion, light was shed on the role index-based insurance can play in improving the resilience of small-scale farmers to climate change effects.
The participants in this event showed the devastating impact of climate change on rain-fed plantations, stressing the need for setting up adaptation mechanisms facilitating access to funding through the development of an index-based insurance system targeting small-scale farmers, underscored participants in a side event hosted in the Moroccan pavilion at COP22.
This side event was held as part of the second day activities of the Moroccan pavilion under the theme of Agriculture and Resilience. Throughout COP22 (November 7-18), other themes will be explored including migration, resilience and health; Industry and the coast; transport and innovation, territories and oceans, heritage and security, gender and health; finance and energy.
