Morocco and the European Union signed Tuesday in Rabat, a Green Partnership agreement that seeks to frame joint efforts on energy, climate, and the environment.
Signed by Morocco’s foreign affairs minister Nasser Bourita, Minister of Industry and Trade, Riad Mazour and Minister of Energy Transition and Leila Benali, alongside Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Union Commission in charge of the Green Deal, the partnership will provide a framework for all future EU-Morocco cooperation on energy.
“Setting off the green partnership between Morocco and the European Union will enable the exploitation of all the opportunities it offers in terms of energy security, green hydrogen, and interconnection,” Bourita said.
The Partnership, the first of its kind the EU signed with a partner country, encapsulates Morocco’s renewable energy sources; including green hydrogen, water desalination and marine energy, as well as efforts to reduce carbon, and investing in green technology.hhh
“The successive crises offer us an opportunity to build back better,” said Bourita. “By build back better, I mean breaking away from certain outdated patterns, not to substitute old dependencies, with new dependencies that are just as harmful.By “building back better, I mean promoting credible and reliable alternatives.”
Bourita revealed that the program to support the energy transition in Morocco cost 50 million euros, and another program will be signed next December for a 115 million euros.
Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President of the European Union Commission in charge of the Green Agreement, said that “this meeting falls within the framework of the Green Partnership, which is the first of its kind that brings the European Union together with a partner country.”
This, he said, reflects Morocco’s leading role in Africa to conserve energy and support efforts to protect the environment, depending on the “positive dynamism of bilateral relations, and resilience to the challenges imposed by the difficult international situation.”
The launch of the Green Partnership comes following the joint declaration establishing the “EU-Morocco Partnership for Shared Prosperity”, adopted in June 2019, which identified priority cooperation areas, namely energy, fight against global warming, environmental protection, and the promotion of green economy.
The partnership will enhance existing mechanisms of dialogue and cooperation between Morocco and the European Union and promote new aspirations defined by the European Neighborhood Policy and various priorities of the Kingdom.
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