Morocco and Germany signed an agreement to initiate two cooperation projects in sustainable mobility on Tuesday in Rabat during a meeting attended by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
The Ministry of Transport and Logistics, Morocco’s Railway Office (ONCF), the National Road Safety Agency (NARSA), the National Transport and Logistics Company, and the Association of Vehicle Importers in Morocco, all signed off on the two cooperation projects.
Chaired by the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Mohamed Abdeljalil, this meeting was an opportunity to present the results of the project “TraCS: Advancing Transport Climate Strategies,” which aims to strengthen environmental policies in the transport sector, and to launch the project “IMPROVE: Introducing Measures, Pathways and Roadmaps for optimizing Vehicle Efficiency and Electrification,” which seeks to improve the energy efficiency of vehicles in Morocco.
Abdeljalil said that the economic development sought by the Kingdom envisions the overall improvement in the quality of life and increased social integration, as well as the strengthening of tourist attractiveness, as they all depend on an efficient and sustainable transport system.
The Minister reiterated his department’s commitment to effectively contribute to Morocco’s efforts in combating climate change, improving energy efficiency, and protecting the environment.
He also highlighted the importance of finding a balance between economic and demographic growth, which leads to the need for more comprehensive transport networks, while at the same time being mindful of the need for a reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
The official reviewed some measures taken in this direction, including the identification of new monitoring and evaluation indicators for the decarbonization of the energy sector and the establishment of an adequate measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) information system, the promotion of the use of electric and hybrid vehicles, and the limitation of the age of imported used vehicles to five years.
The Minister also asserted that the “TraCS” project helps to strengthen the contribution of the transport sector to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and to improve access to and analysis of data related to land transport.
This project has also contributed to sustaining the collection, analysis, and processing of vehicle activity data, conducting periodic GHG inventories, producing indicators, and formulating recommendations to better target and plan objectives and measures in this area through agreements.
Minister Counselor at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Stefan Bantle, said that the two signed cooperation projects are part of the longstanding Moroccan-German collaboration in mitigating the effects of climate change and in energy consumption management.
“Morocco is a pioneering actor at the African and international levels, which has developed and implemented strategies to address the climate challenge,” Bantle conveyed in a statement to the press.
The new cooperation project “IMPROVE” will introduce pathways and roadmaps to optimize the electrification efficiency of vehicles and to support public authorities in introducing ambitious regulatory and fiscal measures to increase fleet energy efficiency and promote the transition to zero-emission vehicles.