Daily Observer
by Bekai Njie
The President of the Moroccan Scientific Committee, Nizar Baraka, has affirmed that the government of his country is doing all it takes to make COP22 an African COP instead of Morocco’s.
In a meeting with African journalists who are currently in Rabat to attend series of events ahead of the COP22 to be hosted by Morocco in November, 2016, Baraka justified bringing African journalists to Morocco is an example of the country’s resolve to making COP22 an African event.
He spoke about the role of the scientific committee for the COP22 in Morocco, saying they are making sure that they guide all the other committees to work effectively and efficiently towards the successful hosting of the event in November.
He further described COP21 in Paris as historic after more than 176 countries have signed the document, which he said, is going quite well in terms of ratification. With respect to the Paris Agreement, he said, COP22 would be action-based as negotiators would also ensure that what has been agreed in France is put into effect.
“But also when we say that it’s an action-based COP, we mean that we intend to set a number of policy for adaptation,” he said, noting that adaption is very key for Africa which is the least emitter of greenhouse gases.
“The commitment taken in Paris matters to all and today, adaptation is vital in terms of funding, which is very neglected.” He outlined agriculture as very important particularly in the face of drought.
Mr. Baraka further spoke about the role of private sector in COP22, indicating that they are working on a number of initiatives to get the private sector involved and also see how the Moroccan Central Bank can engage numbers of companies in green investment projects.
He also outlined the need for universities across the continent to come together and draw a roadmap as to what Africa wants to achieve in the near future. The role of opinion leaders, he went on, is important as they have the potential to carry out messages on climate change to the grassroots.
The African media were also accorded the opportunity to visit the site tipped to host the COP22 in Marrakech. At the site, where construction begins this week, Abdeslam Bekrate, Head of Logistics and Security for COP22 said that his government is responsible for hosting the COP but has no monopoly over the content to be discussed during the conference.
He said that at the moment, they have finished the sewage, sanitation and the water system as part of the construction of the site particularly the COP22 Monument.
He explained that there will be space dedicated to the global civil society which aims to tackle climate change issues, with some selected topics such as women’s empowerment, human capacity building, water, finance and climate among others during the conference.
by Bekai Njie
in Marrakech, Morocco
