Communication Meeting at the House of Representatives Stresses Important Role of the Parliament in Fulfilling the Commitments Linked to Climate Change

The House of Representatives organized on Thursday, November 21, 2024, in Rabat,  a communication meeting on the theme “Facing the impacts of climate change in Morocco: International commitments and national legislation" in cooperation with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, as part of the program “Strengthening parliamentary engagement in climate action in the Kingdom of Morocco,” which was launched today in the presence of experts in environmental and climate affairs and representatives of national and international bodies.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chairperson of the Interim Thematic Working Group on Energy Transition, Rep. Hicham El Haid, stressed that this meeting is of great importance, as it will contribute to enriching the report being prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) together with experts in this field.

For her part, Rep. Naima El Fethaoui, a member of the Thematic Working Group in charge of evaluating the water policy, explained that this meeting constitutes a link with the propositional forces to enrich the debate and shed light on the various aspects of this challenge that affects the present and future of the Kingdom of Morocco.

For her part, the Director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s Office in Morocco, Ms. Fatiha Ait Oulaid, stressed that the partnership with the Moroccan House of Representatives, which began in 2011, aims to support the reform projects in which the House is engaged, strengthen democracy as a fundamental pillar, and face various current challenges such as climate change. She also added that Morocco's efforts culminated in its advanced rating in the Climate Change Performance Index in 2024 and its hosting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22).

The first sitting of this communication meeting was devoted to discussing climate change impact scenarios for Morocco, where the speakers emphasized that Morocco is among the countries most engaged in developing strategies to reduce climate change's effects.

The speakers stressed the need to legislate applicable laws to address environmental challenges, especially reducing carbon emissions and the cost of natural disasters, reorienting efforts to combat the effects of climate disruption, prioritizing climate change adaptation investments, intensifying the urban fabric of cities, incorporating the reduction of the degree of dependence of certain activities near the coast in future urbanization designs, integrating circular economy principles in the treatment of household waste and wastewater, and establishing a binding legislative framework for polluters and users.

During this sitting, experts highlighted the significant challenges posed by the repercussions of climate change on Morocco, which committed in 2016 to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent by 2023.

The second sitting focused on addressing climate change between international instruments and national legislation, where an overview of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was presented, as the commitment to this agreement is considered active as long as countries submit their nationally defined contributions to address climate change.

The sitting emphasized the need to review climate actions and the achieved progress in order to ensure transparency and accountability among all parties in the global assessment process. They also underscored the pivotal role of legislation in facilitating the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The sitting also highlighted the contribution of the Moroccan Parliament to climate policies in Morocco through a set of measures aimed at strengthening parliamentary engagement in the field of climate action through the creation of a Thematic Working Group in Charge of Evaluating the Water Policy, issuing recommendations on legal, control, and governance aspects within the report presented during the annual public policy evaluation sitting, as well as examining institutional reports.

During the third sitting, the speakers addressed the issue of multilateral support for climate action in Morocco, emphasizing the need to finance adaptation projects to add to the projects funded by the Green Climate Fund through national adaptation projects such as water and afforestation and international projects related to renewable energies and energy efficiency.

The speakers reiterated the call for wealth development and carbon neutrality and raised the alarm about the effects of drinking water shortages, as it was revealed that worsening water scarcity could negatively affect Morocco's gross domestic product by 6.5 percent. In this regard, the participants reviewed the recommendations of the Thematic Working Group on Water at the House of Representatives, which produced a report calling for strengthening governance, proactivity, and convergence of public policies, and strengthening the meteorological network at the national level.

The speakers also called for moving from urgency to proactivity in the field of climate change, granting attention to scientific research, and providing free environmental information.

At the end of the meeting, the participants emphasized the important role of the Parliament in the success of climate change commitments, calling for the need to enact the necessary legislation, update the laws, and accompany their implementation by issuing applicable texts and monitoring the implementation of the government strategy related to the environment and climate change.

The speakers also noted the importance of encouraging scientific research, providing free access to environmental, climate, and water information, and adopting a predictive methodology to anticipate and foresee future changes. They also underlined the need for sectorial public policies to be convergent and complimentary, the role of the media in the awareness-raising system, and the involvement of civil society in raising awareness of climate change issues.