King Mohammed VI of Morocco has approved the appointment of the COP22 steering committee members, chaired by Salaheddine Mezouar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation said on Thursday.
“On Thursday February 11, 2016, HM King Mohammed VI appointed Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar as the chair of the COP22 Steering Committee. The Sovereign also approved the appointment of the 11 members of this committee, which will be in charge of the preparation and organisation of the 22nd United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP22), scheduled on November 7-18 in Marrakech”, the Foreign Affairs and Cooperation ministry pointed out in a statement.
Besides Mezouar, the committee will be composed of Abdelâdim Lhafi (commissioner), Aziz Mekouar (ambassador for multilateral negotiations), Nizar Baraka (president of scientific committee), Hakima Haité (special envoy for mobilisation), Driss El Yazami (in charge of civil society pole), Faouzi Lekjaa (in charge of financial pole), Samira Sitaïl (in charge of communication pole), Abdeslam Bikrate (in charge of logistics and security pole), Said Mouline (in charge of public/private partnership pole) and Mohammed Benyahia (in charge of side-events pole).
The same source noted that upon high royal instructions, an inter-ministerial committee has been created in order to accompany the organisation of this important international event.
The committee is composed of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Interior, Agriculture and Fisheries, Industry, Commerce, Investment and Digital Economy, Energy, Mining, Water and Environment, and Economy and Finance.
The King also provided guidelines to ensure the full involvement of the government, State, non-State, public and private stakeholders to guarantee the success of this landmark event to combat climate change, the statement added.
The leader also gave guidelines to reaffirm the different commitments of the Kingdom regarding the protection of the environment, development of renewable energies and the fight against climate change, and the defense of the interests of developing countries, especially African and small island States.
He further gave guidelines to coordinate different actions with the French presidency of the 21st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in conformity with the “Tangier Call”, the statement concluded.
