Morocco called for more grant-based climate finance and easier access to international funding for developing countries at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Türkiye. Speaking at a ministerial session of the Baku High-Level Dialogue on Adaptation on 10 November, Morocco’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development, Charafat Afailal, called for a credible plan to triple adaptation finance by 2035.
Afailal said governments need additional, predictable public funding to put their adaptation plans into practice. She called for simpler direct access to the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund, with grants playing a larger role in meeting the needs of developing countries. The minister said international commitments should be judged by whether they help communities most exposed to climate risks prepare for and withstand their impacts.
Morocco outlines 107 adaptation projects through 2035
Afailal presented Morocco’s approach to integrating climate adaptation into development planning and sector policies, including those for water, agriculture and forestry. The country’s latest national climate pledge, known as NDC 3.0, identifies 80 adaptation objectives and 107 projects through 2035. Of those projects, 61 are listed as unconditional and 46 as conditional. Morocco plans to update its national adaptation strategy to account for evolving climate risks.
All 12 Moroccan regions have climate plans, and five have dedicated plans for adaptation and climate-resilient development. Afailal said local stakeholders, including women and young people, contributed to the planning process. She also highlighted efforts to coordinate climate adaptation with disaster risk reduction.
Domestic resources account for nearly 90% of Morocco’s adaptation funding, according to Afailal. She said Morocco has incorporated its adaptation commitments into its multiyear budget framework and still needs complementary international financing to implement its plans.
The Baku dialogue supports implementation of national adaptation plans and the UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience. Participants called for faster implementation of adaptation measures in developing countries, where communities and economies face increasingly severe climate impacts. COP31 runs through 20 November in Antalya.
