Climate Change: Morocco will defend African island countries at COP-27

Morocco has pledged to defend the African Islands at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) due in Sharm Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November 2022.

The announcement was made Tuesday by Moroccan foreign minister Nasser Bourita in a speech made via videoconference during a ministerial meeting of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union.

Morocco will organize, during the COP27, a conference on the challenges faced by island states in the face of climate change, he said.

“We will call, during COP27, for technical, scientific and financial support of African island countries” to enable them mitigate the impacts of global warming, said Mr.Bourita.

It is also a question of “ensuring institutional financial support in strengthening the development of the capacities of a blue and green economy,” he said.

“’This is part of Morocco’s commitment and its solidarity-based African policy spearheaded by King Mohammed VI”, he added, noting that Morocco leads the global efforts to strengthen the climate resilience of African island states.

He cited in this regard, the 1st African Action Summit convened on the sidelines of COP22 in Marrakech in 2016, at the initiative of King Mohammed VI, the setting up of three African Commissions on climate, including one dedicated to Island countries and the Climate Change Competence Center of Morocco (4C Morocco), a platform for capacity building and exchange of information on climate.

According to a World Bank study, small island countries are experiencing sea level rise, increasingly severe storms and economic fallout from Covid-19 pandemic.

Along with the loss of homes, roads and other infrastructure, rising seas also pose serious risks for island countries. As sea level rise is likely to worsen in the next three decades, adapting to climate change and increasing resilience to its impacts are becoming very important.