Morocco calls for new global system to tackle climate change based on justice principle

Morocco on Thursday called for a new global system to tackle climate change based on the justice principle and the right of developing countries to respond to their current and future development needs.

The system must be built on provisions included in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, particularly the principle of states' shared but differential responsibilities, according to each country's capabilities, said Morocco's King Mohammed VI in a message to participants in the 6th Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers, launched Thursday in Rabat.

In the message read out by Delegate Minister to the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, Hakima El Haite, the King noted that special focus must be placed on the leading role developed countries must take in reducing effects of greenhouse gas emissions and providing developing countries with needed financial and technical support.

The North-South divide is not inevitable, he maintained, adding that the fight against climate change must be a shared responsibility, as long as solidarity principles and commitment to collective action prevail.

The message also highlighted Morocco's commitment to fighting climate change, namely adopting a National Charter for the Environment and Sustainable Development, targeting the inclusion of environmental dimensions and climate change from the start, in all development programs and policies.

He also said that Morocco was the first Arab country, and first in the world, to prepare its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to identify its needs to adapt to the negative effects of climate change.

Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, called for a stronger Islamic role in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris (COP21).

Speaking at the opening of the Islamic Conference, Altwaijri said that ISESCO's participation in the Climate Summit this December will add a major impetus to the efforts of the international community in bringing to fruition projects addressing climate change, namely through the Islamic Declaration on Environment Protection and Sustainable Development to be adopted by the Conference at the close of its deliberations.

He stressed that the Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers has become an efficient tool for consolidating the Islamic position in international forums concerned with the environment and climate change, noting that the participation of the Islamic world in the Rio+20 Summit in 2012 was based on a rational integrated plan adopted by this Conference, namely the Islamic Declaration on Sustainable Development.

Themed "Climate Change: Future Challenges for Sustainable Development," the sixth session of the Islamic Conference of Environment Ministers will examine a draft document on Environment Governance for Environmental Sustainability in the Islamic World.

Participants will also review the progress made towards establishing the Islamic Academy for the Environment and Sustainable Development, and the project for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Award for Environment Management in the Islamic World. Enditem