HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa Chairs Board of Directors of Mohammed VI Foundation for Protection of Environment in Marrakech

Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa took the opportunity to highlight the main achievements of the Foundation.

The year 2021 was marked by the appointment of HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa as the patron of the alliance that carries the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development, a network of eminent partners from around the world, committed to action in favor of the ocean.

In its role as a founding member of the Decade of the Ocean Alliance, the Foundation plays an active role in the animation, such as the Blue Talk organized in partnership with the Portuguese Embassy in Morocco, or the 2nd Foundations Dialogue which brought together world leaders from more than thirty philanthropic foundations. Both events were preparatory to the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon in June 2022, in which the Foundation participated.

Another fundamental axis of the Foundation’s action addressed by HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa concerns the Air Climate program, the Foundation has set up with its partners a task force to decarbonize the Moroccan economy.

The greenhouse gas assessment tool developed by the Foundation is currently being updated and upgraded, in particular to take into account the Carbon Adjustment Mechanism at the borders of the European Union (CBAM) which will be imposed on Moroccan companies. These regulations will apply progressively from 2023.

This tool will serve as a basis for measuring emissions, the first essential step for economic actors in a low-carbon transition that has become indispensable in the face of the climate emergency.

It will also enable the implementation of the technical modalities of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which will support Morocco in its voluntary commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa also informed the members of the Council of the rehabilitation, thanks to the support of its partners, within the framework of its program of rehabilitation of parks and historical gardens, of two gardens: El Haboul in Meknes and Ghabat Chbab in Marrakech.

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa insisted that the two years of the pandemic did not affect the deployment of the programs. The Foundation, which has long relied on new information technologies, was able to quickly redeploy at the beginning of COVID-19 to advance its programs, with the support of its Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training.

The Foundation’s emblematic programs have continued to achieve their objectives, adapting to the circumstances: 74 Eco-Schools have raised the Green Flag, 671 Young Reporters for the Environment have participated in the competition, 28 beaches have raised the Blue Flag, 22 companies have joined the Qualit’air pact.

In Marrakech, where the Council is being held for the second time, the Foundation is very active. In 2004, it rehabilitated the Arsat Moulay Abdeslam and since 2007 has been conducting a major program to safeguard and develop the Palmeraie.

Its involvement is also important in its Air Climate program. Marrakech is a pilot territory for the deployment of the Greenhouse Gas Assessment tool. Technicians and executives from the municipality, the Region and the Wilaya are trained in the use of this carbon tool and in the implementation of a territorial climate plan, or the development of electric mobility.

Finally, the Foundation conducts its education and awareness programs in the city, with pre-school and primary school children (Eco-Schools), high school and college students (Young Reporters for the Environment), students (Network of Green Universities and Youth Education in Africa), or visitors for sustainable tourism.

The Board of Directors approved the accounts for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.