SUDEP-South participates in the MEDCOP22 in Tanger- Morrocco

July 18^th - 19^th , 2016

 

During the SUDEP-SM mission to Morocco, the team participated in the opening ceremony of MEDCOP in Tangier and organized a side event on the first day of the conference to highlight the ongoing success in assisting the Municipality of Chefchaouen and the Moroccan Association of Eco-Cities (AMEV) in developing their local economies through sustainable development in energy and public awareness.

H.E. Robert Joy, the EU Ambassador to Morocco visited the SUDEP South stall which was co-organized between SUDEP-SM and the local project partners GERES and IDE-E where he was provided with a brief of the type of activities and support that were provided to the participating Moroccan municipalities.

As part of SUDEP-SM’s mission to integrate with national authorities in charge of renewable energy and energy efficiency, the EU Ambassador visited the stall of l’Agence Nationale pour le Développement des Energies Renouvelables et de l’Efficacité Energétique’ (ADEREE) where he had a brief discussion with the Director General Mr. Said Mouline.

SUDEP South Support Mechanism organized media interviews with several regional and national audio visual outlets, focusing on the efforts of the European Union on energy efficiency and renewable energy for sustainable cities of the southern Mediterranean.

Multiple interviews with national television and radio outlets ensued where the Ambassador discussed the importance of the energy sector for the EU and the level of support with the EU is providing to Morocco with special regards to the SUDEP-SM involvement in Chefchaouen and Kenitra.

As part of the MEDCOP Climate hold in Tangier on 18 and 19 July, the SUDEP-South initiative organized a side event to present the successes, challenges and findings of the programme jointly with local partners namely the two local municipalities of Chefchaouen and Kenitra and the Moroccan Association for Eco-Villages (AMEV).

This session was co-chaired by HE. Robert Joy, the EU Ambassador to Morocco and President of Chechaouen-President of AMEV and SUDEP TL and counted representation from local authorities, institutional stakeholders, civil society, scientists, in addition to representatives from SUDEP-SM GERES and IDE- E, both technical partners of SUDEP-South in Morocco.

In conjunction with the Moroccan Association for Eco-Cities (AMEV), a key partner for the SUDEP-South project in Morocco and on the sidelines of the MEDCOP event in Tangier, a meeting was held with AMEV member municipalities on Sunday, July 17th. During this meeting the progress of both projects in Chefchaouen and Kenitra was discussed with participants who showed an interest in benefiting from assistance provided by SUDEP-South including capacity building and training in the fields of planning, M&E, developing project concept notes and others. Participants also stated that they are waiting for actual results from Chefchaouen and Kenitra to assess how they will integrate these results into their own energy plans.​

The SUDEP South project, funded by the European Union and implemented by GIZ, aims to enable 12 cities from 6 countries of the southern Mediterranean to implement actions to promote sustainable energy. The objective is to improve energy efficiency, increase the use of renewable energy sources and the protection of the environment by promoting a green and sustainable economy.

Since 2015, the municipalities of Chefchaouen and Kenitra have been supported by this program   to achieve efficient and optimized public lighting activities, the implementation of an energy information centre as well as organizing capacity development, awareness and promotional activities for energy efficiency.