ENERGY DIALOGUE: UN NAMES MOROCCO ‘WORLD CHAMPION’ IN INNOVATION

Morocco received the designation during the UN’s High Level Dialogue on Energy, which took place virtually on March 10.

The designation is a recognition of Morocco’s efforts to develop innovative renewables projects in order to source over 52% of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030, according to a press release from the Masen. 

As part of the designation, Morocco will carry out global advocacy for innovation, technology, and data in the field of energy. It will also “mobilize national energy pacts” to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, and to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate objectives. 

Morocco will also have the task of raising awareness to promote the High Level Dialogue on Energy and provide strategic advice to its partners and its technical working group. 

Masen’s president Mustapha Bakkoury represented Morocco at the meeting, which was the first of its kind on energy under the UN General Assembly’s auspices since 1981. 

The dialogue centered on the means to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7, which aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”

The meeting also focused on working towards the objectives of the Paris Agreement. 

Bakkoury said that King Mohammed VI’s vision, “which has shaped the achievements of the Kingdom in the field of renewable energies, and which has inspired the international dynamic since the holding of the COP22 in Marrakech, is crowned by this new mark of confidence of the United Nations, designating the Morocco as world champion of High Level UN Dialogue on energy.” 

He added that the “strategic mission will make it possible to continue towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at the global level, and to accelerate their implementation.”

Masen won, in 2016, the UN environmental “Champions of the Earth” prize in the Entrepreneurial Vision category. 

It is also strongly involved in the project Morocco and Ethiopia launched for Sustainable Access to Energy, benefiting populations of Least Developed Countries and other developing countries. 

Masen announced in December 2020, in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank, the launch of a joint initiative to develop renewable energy projects in Africa. 

The initiative seeks to “catalyze the development of renewable energy projects in the Bank’s member countries in Africa,” announced the coalition.