Call of Tangier: For a united and strong action in favor of the climate

"Climate change is one of the most serious threats to the entire humanity. Morocco and France are seriously concerned about its growing negative impacts on the environment, and on economic and social development as well as on international peace and security.

On the eve of the 21st session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, due in Paris in late 2015, and in view of the 22nd Conference of Parties, which Morocco proposes to host in 2016 in Marrakech, we appeal to the international community to beef up the fight against climate change. The urgency requires us to act in a united and strong way for the climate. We must act quickly, appropriately and collectively. The decisions we make at the international level must go hand in hand with quick and tangible initiatives in the field. While the international community is preparing to adopt, this September in the United Nations, the Sustainable Development Goals, it is imperative to take advantage of the conferences due in Paris and Marrakech to speed up the transition towards a "green global economy," joining the legitimate development aspirations to the imperatives of sustainability of resources and the reduction of environmental risks. The battle against climate change is one for development. It can and must be integrated into national sustainable development policies, whether in the perspective of food security, access to renewable energy or the fight against insecurity.

The North-South divide is not inevitable. The fight against climate change may be a joint struggle if it is seen under the prism of the shared responsibility, but differentiated from solidarity and the commitment of all to act.

Morocco and France committed to spare no effort in working for the adoption, at the Paris Conference, of a universal, global, sustainable, balanced and legally binding agreement founded on the objectives and principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and allowing to limit global warming below two degrees Celsius and to usher in low-carbon economy. Therefore, a steady enhancement of our national efforts and our collective effort is required. The Marrakesh Conference will be an important step in this regard. This long-term effort requires the publication by all countries, before the Paris Conference, of national contributions, and the elaboration of national low-carbon development plans and long-term adaptation.

Special attention should be paid to developing countries, including the least developed countries and Small Island developing States, which are most vulnerable to climate change. An equally high importance should be given to adaptation to the impacts of climate change and to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. The efficiency and the level of ambition of the actions of developing countries against climate change will be even stronger as complementary, consistent and stable resources will be mobilized in their favor.

We call on developed countries to specify the financial support that they already provide and that they intend to provide in the coming years in order to achieve the goal of mobilizing ê 100 billion per year from 2020, from public and private sources for the fight against climate change in developing countries.

International, regional and national financial institutions should be further encouraged to promote the financing of projects of benefit to the climate and to integrate the consideration of climate risks into their decisions.

We encourage the strengthening of international partnerships in favor of research and development and of technology transfer, as well as capacity building programs to speed up the spread of clean technologies in developing countries.

In order to be credible, the commitments made by the Parties at the international level should be based on voluntarist actions at global and local level. In this respect, an even stronger mobilization of local authorities, businesses, nongovernmental organizations and individuals is an essential complement to state actions.

Sustainable and efficient mobilization against climate change implies increased access to education and information regarding the environment. The greater knowledge of environmental issues, the better will be the understanding of issues related to them and the more enterprising will be the action against climate change.

Combined with population growth, climate disruption puts increasing pressure on the already vulnerable ecosystems and the fragile agriculture in Africa. An additional and rapid support is essential to assist African countries in their efforts to achieve sustainable development. Morocco and France are fully engaged in this and are willing to further strengthen their support, including through triangular cooperation.

Confident that the Paris and Marrakech conferences should be additional steps in pushing forward the fight against climate change, we agreed to work together, hand in hand, for the success of these two events in the spirit of cooperation, solidarity and excellence that has always been a hallmark in the exceptional Partnership between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic."