The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, and the Executive Vice-President in charge of the Green Pact for Europe, Frans Timmermans, signed today the Green Partnership on Energy, Climate and Environment between the European Union and Morocco. This is the EU’s first partnership of its kind with a third country.
The Green Partnership with Morocco represents the first partnership signed under the EU’s Green Pact, which paves the way for enhanced cooperation and strategic dialogue in the field of climate change and facilitates joint efforts towards the green transition.
The agreement was signed in Morocco’s capital Rabat, following bilateral talks between Vice President Timmermans and the Head of Moroccan diplomacy, Nasser Bourita. Timmermans was also received by Morocco’s Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, who commented that the activation of the “Green Partnership” pact between Morocco and the European Union will allow both parties to exploit all the opportunities it offers in terms of energy security, green hydrogen and the interconnection of gas pipelines linking Europe, Morocco and Nigeria. Akhannouch emphasised the importance of this pact to advancing the energy transition for both partners, protecting the environment and stimulating the green economy.
This Green Partnership makes sense in the current context where energy is a critical concern. Today’s conclusion of a forward-looking cooperation shows the confidence of both partners in their shared perspective for the future and their willingness to work together.
This joint approach also reflects Morocco’s commitment to work in synergy with the EU’s priority strategies. It intends to accompany the EU in the deployment of the innovative Global Gateway vision, which promotes strategic connections between Europe, Morocco and Africa. Furthermore, the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline is just one of the illustrations of this strategic direction which will release the potential for the regional and continental integration of Morocco-EU relations.
This Partnership is also in line with the voluntary political choice of Morocco’s commitment to an energy transition. The global energy situation shows the relevance of the choices made by Morocco, since 2009, through the diversification of energy production sources and the development of renewable energy.
It will reinforce the common will of Morocco and the European Union to strengthen their strategic and long-standing relationship through the development of new innovative and mutually beneficial partnerships, and reflect a strong political convergence between the two parties with regard to issues related to the environment, climate and sustainable development.
King Mohammed VI
Morocco’s voluntary choice to work towards energy transition
Morocco’s commitment to an energy transition is a voluntary political choice made by King Mohammed VI more than a decade ago, through an ambitious energy strategy, based fundamentally on the development of renewable energies, energy development, efficiency and the reinforcement of regional integration, accompanied by strong support for innovation at the local level.
Morocco has steadily increased its ambition in the development of renewable energy. In 2018, King Mohammed VI decided to exceed the target announced by the Kingdom of Morocco at COP21 by increasing the share of renewable energy to more than 52% of the electricity mix by 2030.
This vision has already started to deliver results. About 52 renewable energy projects with an installed capacity of more than 4 GW are already in operation, representing 20% of the electricity demand, and more than 60 other projects are under development or implementation. These projects have made a significant contribution to electricity generation and to reducing energy dependence by 8 percentage points since 2009.
Morocco’s renewable energy projects are designed with an integrated development approach, with a view to maximising their direct impact on employment, education, health, agriculture and infrastructure development, thus contributing to the improvement of citizens’ living conditions and the sustainable economic growth of the Kingdom.
The green partnership delivers on the declaration of intent made in June 2021
Rabat and Brussels announced their intention to establish this partnership in June 2021, in order to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against climate change and to work jointly to advance their energy transition, to protect the environment and to stimulate the green economy.
The Green Partnership with Morocco represents the first partnership signed under the EU’s Green Pact, which paves the way for enhanced cooperation and strategic dialogue in the field of climate change and facilitates joint efforts towards the green transition.
The Green Partnership follows, among others, the Joint Political Declaration establishing the “Euro-Moroccan Partnership for Shared Prosperity”, adopted in June 2021 by the EU-Morocco Association Council, which identified as a key priorities cooperation in the field of energy, the fight against global warming, environmental protection and the promotion of the green economy.
