UN Cites Morocco as an Example in the Field of Renewable Energies

Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen, presented Morocco as a model in terms of investment in the field of renewable energies, on the occasion of the presentation of a new UN report on the environment.

Andersen said, in a joint press conference with United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to present a report entitled “Making Peace with Nature”, “I should cite Morocco as an example (…) of countries that invested ten years ago in renewable energies, and which are now major producers of renewable energies from dual thermal wind and solar powers.”

The UN official called on developing countries to invest in nature and start the transition to energy transformation, in order to achieve an environment-friendly “renewable economy”.

According to the UNEP report, the world can tackle issues related to climate change, biodiversity and pollution all at once.

On the other hand, Guterres said that these issues require “urgent action by the whole society,” adding that “people’s choices matter,” noting that about two-thirds of global carbon dioxide emissions are coming from households.

Guterres also expressed his regret saying, “The atmosphere and oceans have become a waste disposal for us, and governments continue to pay a high price to exploit nature instead of protecting it,” adding, “We are overusing the environment, and we are leading to its degradation on land and sea.”

The UNEP study shows that global economy has nearly quintupled over the past five decades, but at a tremendous cost to the environment.

Despite the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions due to the Covid-19 epidemic, global warming is set to increase by 3°C during this century, as pollution-related diseases kill about nine million people prematurely each year, and more than a million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction.