HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa: HM the King Put Environment Protection at Centre of Moroccan Development

Bonn – Since his enthronement, HM King Mohammed VI put the protection of the environment at the centre of Moroccan development, said, Thursday in Bonn, HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa, Chairperson of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection, at the opening of high-level session on COP 23 Education Day.

In a speech on the occasion, Her Royal Highness said that a major stride was made in 2011 when the right to a healthy environment and sustainable development were enshrined in the Moroccan constitution.

HRH the Princess recalled that, later, a framework law called the National Charter for Environment and Sustainable Development, set the basic goals of State’s action in the field, such as including the culture of environment protection in education and training syllabus.

Her Royal Highness added that environment and climate issues are among the Kingdom’s commitment and action under a multilateral framework, recalling that Morocco, as a COP22 president, had strived resolutely to reinforce the momentum gathered since the conclusion of the Paris Agreement.

As it was underlined in the Marrakech Call, the conference has marked a major turning point in order to turn commitments into actions. The States-Parties renewed their resolve to inspire future generations, HRH recalled, noting that the COP 22 Education Day witnessed involvement by youth who shouldered their responsibilities in terms of environment protection.

Her Royal Highness said that the COP Education days are a special place to share expertize and educational methods in terms of global warming.

HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa also highlighted that young generations are targeted by the Foundation, in cooperation with the national education ministry, adding that this joint effort led to introducing to Morocco two programs on environment education: “Eco Schools” and “Young Reporters for Environment”.

Since its inception sixteen years ago, the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection has been involved in awareness-raising campaigns and environment education which helped it draw two conclusions, HRH the Princess said.

The first one is that, with the help of international bodies as UNESCO, FAO and UNEP, the foundation was scouting out a society alien to the concept of environment protection. Today, all statements and actions are taking account of this dimension, this the first result of which the foundation is very proud, she went on to say.

The second is the observation that results achieved by the foundation do not rise to the challenges to be addressed, she said, noting that awareness raising under way in Morocco does not include all Moroccan citizens, regardless of their age or social status.

This second remark shows us that, in the field of environment education, in Morocco, like in many other countries, much remains to be done, she underscored.

In this regard and on the COP23 occasion, she added, the UNFCCC secretariat and the foundation will reinforce their cooperation to carry out provisions laid down in article 6 of the framework convention on education, training, awareness raising and public access to information.