HIBAPRESS-RABAT-MEF
The Ministry of Economy and Finance, Bank Al Maghrib, the Moroccan Capital Market Authority and the Insurance and Social Security Supervisory Authority have mobilized to develop a common and concerted vision to accelerate the green transition of the Moroccan financial sector by capitalizing on the progress and major achievements of the roadmap adopted in 2016 on the sidelines of COP22 held in Marrakech aimed at aligning the financial sector, in all its components, with the challenges of sustainable development.
Indeed, the Moroccan financial sector plays a strategic role in supporting the vision in the fight against climate change. This role is expected to accelerate in the coming years to meet the growing financing needs of green and climate projects. Indeed, according to the World Bank, investment needs between 2022 and 2050 are estimated at around 78 billion dollars (Climate and Development Report in Morocco).
The preparation of the new strategy was based on an in-depth diagnosis which revealed that climate finance flows come mainly from the public sector with the predominance of mitigation measures, in particular the production of renewable energies. Adaptation actions, mainly provided by the public sector, attract even less private financing, with the exception of the seawater desalination sector. The diagnosis also noted that the range of green financial instruments in Morocco is quite complete although there is a gap between demand and supply for these products. Also, the diagnosis highlighted that the development of green financing is impacted by the absence of a definition of green projects (taxonomy) and the lack of quality data to inform investors’ decision-making.
Thus, the new strategy was built around 3 pillars of intervention comprising 9 strategic axes mainly aimed at identifying levers to accelerate the mobilization of private financing in favor of the climate and the strengthening of climate risk management within the financial sector.
For the operationalization of this strategy, appropriate governance will be put in place involving stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The governance bodies will make it possible to respond to the various challenges of deploying this strategy and to monitor the progress of the identified actions in a proactive and concerted manner.
Thus, the adoption of the climate finance strategy reflects a strong commitment on the part of the Moroccan financial authorities to contribute to the mobilization of private capital necessary for the success of our country’s green transition and to combat the effects of climate change.
