Morocco: Abidjan highlights the country’s major steps towards sustainable cities
June 2024
Morocco’s pilot experience and the major steps it has taken towards establishing sustainable cities and promoting the circular economy were highlighted on Tuesday in Abidjan at the second edition of the International Circular Economy Forum (ECO- CIR 2024).
‘Under the visionary and decisive impetus of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, Morocco has been actively engaged for years in the transition towards sustainable cities and the circular economy, integrating strategies that aim to respond to contemporary environmental and social challenges’, said the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Côte d’Ivoire, Abdelmalek Kettani, taking part in a high-level panel organised to mark the occasion, alongside members of the Ivorian government and the European Union’s Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Mrs Fransesca Di Mauro.
Mr Kettani explained that this move was motivated by the fact that the Kingdom is facing major environmental challenges, in particular water shortages, due to climate change and the lack of rainfall over the years, and waste management, noting that the imperative of a transition towards sustainable cities has become a political priority for Morocco, integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its public policies, in particular SDG 11, which aims to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
In this connection, he reviewed a series of initiatives and projects launched by Morocco in the area of water resource management, including the National Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation Programme (2020-2027), aimed at accelerating investment in the water sector, improving governance and integrating non-conventional water resources, as well as seawater desalination projects such as the Casablanca plant, the largest in Africa, which uses renewable energy.
Efforts have also focused on implementing the National Liquid Sanitation and Wastewater Treatment Programme (PNA), which aims to improve wastewater treatment and reduce its impact on the environment, said Mr Kettani, citing, by way of example, a series of specific projects, such as the depollution of the Sebou basin, launched to treat wastewater before it is reused.
Morocco has also implemented ambitious programmes to manage waste and encourage recycling, Mr Kettani added, pointing out that in 2020, the Kingdom generated more than 7 million tonnes of waste, with an urgent need to adopt circular practices to manage this situation.
He went on to say that several pilot cities, such as Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Fez, Tangiers and Marrakech, are implementing circular economy practices as part of waste management and urban sustainability.
On another note, he stressed the relevance of the theme of this conclave, ‘sustainable cities and technologies’, given its topicality and the fact that it is needed at this pivotal time in the history of economic and environmental development in today’s world.
ECO-CIR 2024 is a joint initiative of the Autonomous District of Abidjan, the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët- Boigny (INPHB) in Yamoussoukro, the Institut de l’Economie Circulaire d’Abidjan (IECA) and Challenge Technologies.