Morocco is currently undergoing an ambitious country-wide switch to renewable energy, while at the same time hosting the COP22 climate change convention, currently taking place in Marrakesh from November 7-18.
Environment Minister Hakima El Haite, who is both hosting the event and leading Morocco’s renewable energy push, tells DPA she is hopeful there is sufficient political will to achieve the promises laid out by the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees.
DPA: What would be the best-case-scenario outcome for this COP22 in Marrakesh?
El Haite: To maintain the trust. This is the best scenario. And the only way to maintain the trust is to fulfil the promises, to fulfil the commitments, to allocate the fund for all the pledges, to make a difference in the lives of all the people who are suffering.
DPA: As you know, the combined pledges submitted by countries do not yet meet the under-2-degree goal. What makes you confident, if you are confident, that the goal will be achieved?
El Haite: I’m not confident about the achievement of the goal, I’m confident about the involvement and the will of everybody to achieve the goal. This is very important. This is a global transformation. So each one of us – parties, non-parties, civil society, everybody – should appropriate this Paris Agreement roadmap, or implementation roadmap. It will not be done in Marrakesh. It will take time and it will need reforms and policies and money.  
But this is one of the most important indicators I have now, before the beginning of the COP: We couldn’t imagine that the mobilization would be so huge after Paris. This is a departure point. So I think – and this is what makes me confident – that we are building a process and negotiation will continue. But what is important is the partnership that we are building now. This is huge.
DPA: In September, Morocco and Germany launched the climate partnership for developing countries. Who is taking part in this partnership, and what do you hope to achieve?
El Haite: Many countries are supportive of this, because this initiative (...) will help developing countries implement their NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions). And it will deal also with capacity building, it will build business plans and make it easier for countries to have bankable projects. So this is a huge initiative for the implementation of the NDCs.
DPA: In 2015, leaders from countries in many parts of the world adopted the Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change. In Morocco, 600 mosques will receive solar panels. What role does religion play in Morocco’s phasing out fossil fuels?
El Haite: This is a very good question. Let’s speak about religion. How many people do you think belong to a religion around the world? Eighty-five per cent.(...) I think that the voice of the heart is the one which will make a revolution in the brain. This is a profound cultural transformation. I think that religion, culture, art, media, the cinema, books, everything has to participate in this global transformation.