The Association of Populations of the Mountains of the World organised, in Fez, an international symposium on the future of mountains in the face of climate change.
"What future for the mountains in North Africa in the face of climate change" is the theme of an international symposium held last weekend in Fez at the initiative of the Association of Populations of the Mountains of the World (APMM). This meeting was devoted to the development of a list of demands for material and financial support for threatened mountainous areas, which will be submitted and defended at the world conference on the environment, COP 22, which will be held in November 2016 in Marrakech. "This list of demands highlights the serious problems of the impact of global warming on the environment of mountainous areas and on the social, economic and health situation of the populations of the mountains of North Africa and the world", explained El Hassane Hjjij, president of the APMM Morocco section, during this international symposium which recorded the participation of representatives of the APMM sections of North Africa, notably from Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Morocco, as well as from Peru and France.
The advisor to the Ministry in charge of the Environment, Abdelmagid Hamdaoui, assured that the department was resolutely involved in the protection of the environment against all forms of pollution with the objective of improving the living conditions of the population and ensuring sustainable development. For his part, Jean Bourliaud, vice-president of the International Bureau of the APMM, assured that the association will actively participate in the work of COP 22 in Marrakech, highlighting the pioneering role that the APMM Morocco section is called upon to play during this global event to defend the interests of the population of the mountains of North Africa and, consequently, of the world.
For her part, the Algerian Kamira Naït Sid, vice-president of the APMM North Africa section, insisted on the imperative need to grant more interest to the vulnerable populations of the mountains of the Maghreb region who must be supported materially and financially to face the harmful repercussions of climate change. "Global warming causes the melting of ice, soil erosion, the depletion of water resources, the delay of precipitation, the destruction of fauna and flora and the impoverishment of mountain dwellers", she specified.
Gérard Logié, member of the APMM Technical Committee, spoke about the "Territorial diagnosis, state of play of the Moroccan mountain", while Jean Bourliaud gave a presentation on "The APMM and climate change: The road to Marrakech". According to the participants, the negotiation process for the reduction of global warming was opened in 2011 in Durban and continued in Paris, on the occasion of COP 21, to result in a satisfactory historical agreement which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This process will continue at COP 22 in Marrakech in 2016, described as the conference of actions.
