A large delegation from the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, traveled to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 27th Conference of the Parties held by the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC), from November 6 to 18, 2022.
The Foundation attending the Sharm El-Sheikh event, and its partners together carried out a range of decarbonization activities as part of the air and climate program. These actions were presented at an official UNFCCC side event, in collaboration with the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE) on “Just Transitions in Africa: Green Skills, Behavioral Change and Social Dialogue Action”, with young African project leaders taking center stage, in a special video segment entitled: “Business Heroes”.

On the sidelines of this COP, the Foundation joined the UNFCCC Climate Neutral Now mitigation initiative inciting non-state stakeholders to measure, reduce, and offset GHG emissions to attain carbon neutrality by 2050, as committed to in Morocco’s National Low Carbon Strategy.

The African Youth Climate Hub (AYCH) initiative, a network for African youth launched with the backing of YOUNGO, UNFCCC’s youth constituency, and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, hosted four side events at the Moroccan and UAE Pavilions on November 10 and 14, to build young people’s capacity on climate action and empower them with hands-on opportunities.

Along another fundamental action axis of its, the Foundation and UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission organized a side event on “Financing Oceanography for Climate Action in Africa” as part of the Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development.
In this regard, the Foundation also joined Mediterranean pavilion activities in the blue zone on November 17, organized at the COP for the first time alongside the United Nations Environment Program – Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP-MAP). This side event focused on the circular economy of plastic waste at several Atlantic and Mediterranean seaside sites, the “Clean Beaches” program now comprising a total of 106 beaches, 45 of which are on the Mediterranean.

The Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection fosters the rise of a generation of young African leaders for climate protection, by bringing them to attend major international conferences. The Foundation arranged for the attendance of one young environmental reporter and his/her supervisor at the COP in Egypt, with support from the Ministry of National Education, Pre-school, and Sports. The young reporter, already present at the World Environmental Education Congress in Prague in 2022, acquired international experience by covering the COP27 alongside two other young reporters for the environment hailing from Portugal and Northern Ireland.
Several African Youth Climate Hub (AYCH) members, mobilized by the Foundation and its partners, brought the voice of the South to COP27.

Throughout the year, these young AYCH Africans, like those of the African Green Universities and Youth Education Network (AGUYEN), a United Nations Environment Program supported network, received training, on site and online, thanks to significant ICT investments, from the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training.
The Foundation, as a UNFCCC observer member since 2009, attends all conferences and meetings held in this context every year. With 20 years of accumulated experience and partnerships with leading institutions and international organizations, including those of the United Nations, the Foundation supports the Kingdom’s efforts to educate and raise awareness on the environment, sustainable development and climate change, through action programs for all citizens: youth, businesses, government agencies and local authorities.