Saïd Mouline
CEO of AMEE – President of Energy Climate & Green Economy Commission
Energy efliciency policies are based on many pillars; mainly regulation, standardization, program development, technical assistance, behavior and awareness raising, capacity building and training, financing the main measures, and the State’s financial and tax support. The implementation of the measures to be adopted requires the establishment of appropriate and recurring financial mechanisms. Countries are left with little choice, other than to implement an energy efliciency policy, if only to reduce energy bills, complete their energy transition and meet their commitments related to N a t i o n a l l y D e t e r m i n e d Contributionsarising from the Paris Agreement.Energy efliciency is a real lever for growth, as the International Energy Agency revealed in its latest reports. According to the data, USD 221 billion was invested in energy efficiency worldwide in 2015. The funds, which represent about 14% of the total investment in the energy sector, were allocated as follows: 53% for the housing sector, 29% for the transport sector and 18% for the industrial sector. Pro-active countries quickly recovered their initial investments. It must be emphasized again, that energy efliciency is PROFITABLE.
The OECD report “Investing in Climate,Investing in Growth” shows that it is not only part of the environmental policies but also appertain mainly to economic policies.
It is necessary that these policies combine climate actions with fiscal initiatives and structural reforms. It is no longer a matter of adding energy efliciency actions to existing policies but of integrating energy efliciency into all sectors when designing sectorial policies.
In Morocco, as of March 2009, during the National energy conference “Assises de l’Energie”, the royal letter prioritized renewable energies and energy efliciency in energy policy. The objective for 2030 is for renewable energies to reach 52% of the electricity capacity. As for energy efficiency, the aim is to attain a reduction of 20%, when compared to a “business as usual” scenario. The prestigious Energy Efficiency Visionary Award, awarded this year to His Majesty King Mohammed VI, enshrines the relevance and pro-activity of the Royal approach, which sets Morocco as a model forenergy efficiency. In 2016, the transformation of ADEREE into the Moroccan Agency for Energy Efliciency (AMEE) to drive the entire strategy in this sector was strengthened by the announcement in 2017 of a program contract between AMEE, the government and territorial communities. This territorial approach seeks to strengthen the capacity of local actors to contribute, at their level, to Morocco’s 2030 energy by encouraging local and regional energy management with the support of AMEE. At the same time, an experience exchange involving stakeholders from our continent was launched in Marrakech, with more than twenty entities specializing in energy efliciency in Africa, where AMEE’s Green Platform holds its training courses.
Finally, all these actions are carried out in full collaboration with the private sector. CGEM, which has a commission dedicated to energy, climate and the green economy, launched the Business Climate Initiative Morocco to support firms in different sectors, by raising awareness of the risks associated with climate change, as well as the opportunities linked to this green economy. As a matter of fact, an excellent Climate Morocco business guide was published by the CGEM to give all the necessary guidance to various sectors. Let us not forget that certain sectors have been proactive and have already integrated energy efliciency, or the use of renewable energies, or even the recovery of waste to reduce their emissions. Sectors such as mining, cement, steel, agro-food and others have carried out exceptional projects worldwide. They also realized that, ultimately, it increases their economic competitiveness.
This magazine follows on from the one published at the COP 22 in Marrakech on the same theme. Congratulations to the team that managed to sustain the necessary commitment levels, because all those policies have meaning only in the long term.
By Saïd Mouline
CEO of AMEE – President of Energy Climate & Green Economy Commission, CGEM – Head of Public Private Partnerships, COP 22 committee.
