Regional leaders call for adequate funding at COP22

The Marrakech Conference concludes with the first steps towards implementing the Paris Agreement

After two weeks of meetings, the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change ended last Friday with a set of agreements and positions aimed at implementing the Paris Agreement, which entered into force on the 4th of November. The almost 200 countries that are parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change agreed in Marrakech to lay down the rules for the Agreement before 2018, two years before its implementation in 2020.  

One of the declarations launched on the final stretch of COP22 was the Marrakech Action Proclamation, in which all stakeholders pledged to continue to promote climate action, now irreversibly. Among other points, the text restates the developed countries’ obligation to mobilise 100,000 million dollars for climate actions in developing countries.  

Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders 

Funding for climate action was one of the main topics in the negotiations, and intermediate governments worked to be considered during the debate. The second edition of the Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders took place on the 14th November, in the framework of COP22. Co-organised by the Association of Moroccan Regions –member of ORU Fogar– and the Moroccan Association of Municipal Presidents, it gathered representatives of subnational governments from all over the world –among them ORU’s President, Abdessamad Sekkal– for the purpose of calling for the recognition of the territories’ relevance in the implementation of the Paris Agreement. 

The regions present at the summit denounced that the climate projects implemented at the subnational level often face difficulties in obtaining adequate funding. In fact, it is estimated that the funding they receive doesn’t surpass 9% of resources. In this sense, President Sekkal explained that “intermediate governments are key to face climate change, thanks to their powers in the territory, in infrastructures and in managing services and mobility. However, as ORU Fogar we want to express our scepticism regarding the effective role that regions could finally have if we continue to manage such small percentages of the general budget”. And he concluded: “The regions must also receive the global funds adopted in Paris, especially the regions in developing countries”.

The Summit concluded with the adoption of the Marrakech Roadmap for Action of Cities and Regions, which was submitted at the Blue Zone at COP22. 

100 projects for climate

ORU Fogar also participated in activities and side events organised by its members. On the 12th November, it took part in nrg4SD’s side event “Sub-nationals leading climate adaptation: The RegionsAdapt initiative” and, in the afternoon, in R20’s “Innovative Value Chain and Financial Ecosystem for sub-national governments”. The latter focused on the campaign launched by R20 and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) “100 Climate Solutions Project Campaign”, which consists in identifying and financing a hundred environmental projects implemented by local and regional governments from all over the world, ten of which will be selected among ORU Fogar’s member regions. 

COP23 is underway 

In the final days of COP22, the place where the next Conferences of the Parties will take place next year was announced: the city of Bonn, Germany, but with presidency of Fiji. 

Related content:

Paris Agreement adopted at COP21 in Paris in December 2015.

Marrakech takes action at COP22. Article published by ORU Fogar, 07/11/20116