Morocco’s solar bet
Morocco’s new solar power plants are expected to support 1.1 million people and hopes are high for a boost in job creation. Yet obstacles still remain.
If you only take away one thing from the most recent COP 22, the UN climate change conference held in Marrakech, Morocco in 2016, let it be this: You don’t have to be a superpower to make environmentally friendly choices. In fact, the 48 most vulnerable countries in the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) were the ones who made a public pledge to shift to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 without any preconditions. This is a nice job at the industrial superpowers, which tend to take umbrage at the mere suggestion that their energy policies could stand a review.
But beyond the effects the decision may have on the environment, this remarkable show of leadership from the most vulnerable countries ushers in interesting prospects for job creation in the renewable energy sector in countries like Morocco.
Morocco is betting on renewable energy
Surrounded by powerful energy exporters like Algeria, Libya and Egypt, Morocco relies on imported fossil fuels for over 90% of its energy needs and spends around 10-12 percent of its GDP on energy imports.
Read the full article by Oumaima Azzelzouli via Digital Development Debates.
[Photo by EladeManu | Flickr]
