International NGO Climate Chance has highlighted sustainable plans from the region of Souss-Massa and the city of Marrakech in a recent report. These plans are regional initiatives that have been set to combat climate change in the country. In an attempt to promote and support projects and plans of non-state actors set to counter climate change, international association Climate Chance released it's a new report, in which it assesses local and regional plans in several countries, including Morocco. Analyzing 13 cases, including two plans in two Moroccan regions, the NGO offers in its report an illustrative and interactive overview of local public policies led in 2019. In the North African Kingdom, Climate Chance analyzes a set of environmental projects and plans from the Souss-Massa Daraa region. Climate Chance's experts refer to the Souss-Massa climate projects as «satisfying new renewable energy demands», insisting that they represent the «first local climate plan of all Morocco that has operationalized at a regional level». The NGO indicates that Souss-Massa's Local Plan to Combat Climate Change (PTRC) has managed to «outline climate vulnerabilities and formulate the region's first greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory». According to the same association, PTRC provides a «bank» of mitigation and adaptation projects for a total investment of €2.98 billion. It also indicates that PTRC is planning, through its projects, to reach a «75% drop in GHG emissions by 2030 according to forecasts», and tackle other issues, such as electricity demand and energy consumption in Souss-Massa. To reach its goals, Souss-Massa's PTRC is focusing on enhancing renewables, through pilot projects that are working «to develop photovoltaic potential maps (…) and solar ovens», among others. A sustainble swimming pool in Marrakech Souss-Massa's Local Plan to Combat Climate Change is not the only Moroccan initiative that has been highlighted by Climate Chance. In fact, the NGO was also interested in analyzing a Marrakech climate project. The latter is a sustainable semi-Olympic swimming pool initiated by the regional direction of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The covered semi-Olympic swimming pool is expected to have «international swimming standards and sustainability principles». The project set to open its doors for the inhabitants of the Sidi Youssef Ben Ali district in Marrakech will be equipped to «reduce the use of concrete reinforced clolumns». It is expected to have an «insulated» roof and external walls, in addition to «PAC heat pumps and 12 solar panels» for hot water production. «Electric lighting use is reduced and LED lighting consistently used, showerheads and sinks have been designed to reduce water consumption, and the treatment and disinfection of the pool uses ultraviolet treatment and sand filtering», said the same source. According to Climate Change, the building's overall greenhouse gas emissions amount to 5.48 kgCO2 / m2 /year, adding that traditional pools emit on average 6.25 kgCO2 /m2 /year. For the record, Climate Chance's document includes 80 other sustainable projects and plans from 13 regions around the world.
