The first gathering of the Climate Commission and Blue Fund of Congo Basin was held today in the Republic of Congo. The summit aims at financing blue and green projects in the area. King Mohammed VI attended on Sunday the Climate Commission and Blue Fund of Congo Basin summit hosted by Brazzaville, said MAP news agency. The meeting is an initiative launched in November 2016 in Marrakech during the COP 22 held by Marrakech. The Moroccan sovereign signed the protocol of establishement of the Congo Basin Climate Commission at the end of the 1st Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Climate Commission of the Congo Basin and the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin. «Throughout the process, the Kingdom of Morocco has rallied behind this ambitious project to ensure its success, building on the expertise my country has gained in tackling climate change», said the monarch in a speech he delivered today at summit. Rwanda's president Paul Kagame told heads of State and other participants at the summit that «African prosperity will only be attained if they go an extra mile to mitigate climate change». For the record, the Congo Basin Commission was set up on the initiative of King Mohammed VI at the African Action Summit, hosted by Marrakech at the 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP22). Financing blue economy The gathering has the objective of collecting ressources to back programs in the areas of the blue economy, the green economy and the fight against climate change and poverty. «Financing is the main challenge facing the implementation of the project : we must innovate and come up with mechanisms that will help us identify and raise financial resources. We need to convince bilateral and multilateral donors - public as well as private - of the pertinence of the project», added King Mohammed VI. The protocol was also signed by President of Angola, João Lourenço, President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou N'Guesso, President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
