According to the Bank’s website, the Program's objective is to support the implementation of Morocco's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) by scaling up actions that deliver dual benefits for climate mitigation and resilience of targeted vulnerable ecosystems, while strengthening Morocco's institutional coordination capacities.

This Program is a co-financing operation with the World Bank's (WB) Program-for-Results (PforR) "Climate Operation - Support to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)," declared effective since January 8, 2024 and which consists of two Result Areas (RAs):

- RA1: Strengthen Policy and Institutional Capacity in Green Public Finance Management, Green Finance, and Climate Data; and
- RA2: Enhance Resilience to Climate Change of Vulnerable People and Ecosystems.

AIIB's co-financing of USD200 million is designed to add value to the WB's efforts and scale up the activities and impact across both Result Areas of the PforR.

Under RA1 (RA1.2), the Program will enhance the PforR by supporting the expansion of Morocco's climate information infrastructure, notably through the acquisition and operationalization of new all-weather radars. This will bolster real-time weather forecasting, disaster preparedness, air quality monitoring, and data-driven climate planning which are also needed for optimization and safety of renewable energy operations, especially hydropower and wind power.

Under RA2 (RA2.2), AIIB will scale up the PforR's scope of activities by supporting the creation or upgrading of agricultural and para-agricultural service cooperatives in oasis areas, as well as the construction and equipping of additional date palm valorization units. In addition, AIIB will finance complementary activities to the PforR: the plantation of climate-resilient species (e.g., cactus, carob, argan, olive, data palm, almond, caper), the support to targeted research programs on palm tree and argan tree, and the rehabilitation of traditional hydrological infrastructures. Together, these efforts will enhance the depth of RA2 by reinforcing the carbon sequestration as well as resilience of vulnerable oasis ecosystems through targeted nature-based solutions and improved rural value chains.

The Program was categorized by the WB as Moderate which corresponds to Category B as per AIIB’s ESP, as it involves a limited number of potentially adverse ES impacts. Monitoring procedures in place have been deemed adequate for the nature and scale of the Program.

The Program has potential ES risks and impacts. Rehabilitation of meteorological stations would pose risks related to working conditions, occupational health and safety risks. Under the Program, given the national scope of the Program, activities supporting the resilience of vulnerable ecosystems and nature-based solutions would carry some social risks, including the scarcity of natural resources such as land and water in oases areas, the vulnerability of oases’ farmers and the small size of their plots, and the informal uses of rural forests for the extraction of non-timber resources such as honey, plants for basketry and handicrafts, and firewood. In addition, the anticipated impacts of the Program (particularly RA 2.2) would include the potential exclusion of vulnerable groups and impacts of labor influx, as well as potential conflicts related to land and water use. 

Total Program Cost: USD900 million
AIIB: USD200 million
WB: USD350 million
Government of Morocco: USD350 million

CONTACT INFORMATION

PROJECT TEAM LEADER
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Nat Pinnoi - Investment Officer
nat.pinnoi@aiib.org
Carole Megevand - Sector Leader – Planet Department
cmegevand@worldbank.org

BORROWER
Ministry of Economy and Finance
Youssef Farhat - Deputy Budget Director (Ministry of Economy and Finance)
farhat@db.finances.gov.ma

IMPLEMENTING ENTITY
Ministry of Economy and Finance
Youssef Farhat - Deputy Budget Director (Ministry of Economy and Finance)
farhat@db.finances.gov.ma

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.aiib.org/en/contact/information-request/index.html

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AIIB

The AIIB has established the Accountability Mechanism for Project-Affected People (PPM). The PPM provides Òan opportunity for an independent and impartial review of submissions from Project-affected people who believe they have been or are likely to be adversely affected by AIIBÕs failure to implement the ESP in situations when their concerns cannot be addressed satisfactorily through Project level GRMs or AIIB Management processes.Ó Two or more project-affected people can file a complaint. Under the current AIIB policy, when the bank co-finances a project with another development bank, it may apply the other bank's standards. You can refer to the Project Summary Information document to find out which standards apply. You can learn more about the PPM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.aiib.org/en/about-aiib/who-we-are/project-affected-peoples-mechanism/how-we-assist-you/index.html

The complaint submission form can be accessed in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Chinese, English, Tagalog, Hindi, Nepali, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu. The submission form can be found at: https://www.aiib.org/en/about-aiib/who-we-are/project-affected-peoples-mechanism/submission/index.html