Article 6 of the Paris Agreement calls on signatory states to cooperate in limiting global warming “through the purchase and sale of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission allowances”. Norway and Morocco will now be doing just that. The two kingdoms signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect on the sidelines of the 28th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP28), which closed in December 2023 in Dubai.
This system provides for an exchange between countries that pollute too much and countries that pollute less. Norway’s choice of Morocco, a major hydrocarbon producer, is not insignificant. Indeed, the Cherifian kingdom wants to reduce its GHG emissions by 45.5% by 2030, by increasing the share of renewable energies to 52% by 2025.
Bilateral cooperation involves negotiations on the sale and purchase of allowances between the two parties, with technical support from the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). If Rabat sells its allowances, it obtains new sources of funding for its climate projects. The allowances purchased by Norway will serve as a pledge that the European country will be carbon neutral by 2030, as set by the Oslo parliament.
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This is not the first time that the Norwegian government has collaborated with an African country to accelerate the ecological transition. Earlier in 2019, Norway signed an agreement with Gabon to pay the Central African country $150 million over 10 years ($10 for every tonne of carbon not emitted) to protect its vast tracts of natural forest, totalling 22 million hectares.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi