We the participants of the conference pertaining to ‘Oasis and Climate Change: Impacts and Alternatives,’ organized by the Moroccan Coalition for Climate Justice (CMJC) and the Moroccan Network for Right to Access to Information (REMDI) on the 30th of October within the Taragalte festival in M’Hamid El Ghizlane in the lead-up to COP22 that will be held in Marrakech from the 7th to 18th of November:
- are conscious of the gravity of the destructive effects climate change is having on Oasis areas and the resulting negative social, economic cultural and ecological impacts which affect food security , employment opportunities, and results in emigration and the degradation of entire ecosystems,
- realize that current public policies are poorly suited and inappropriate in the fight against the numerous negative consequences of climate change.
We deem the following actions to be urgent and necessary:
On a national scale:
- Revisit and revise strategies and public policies pertaining to the oasis, as well as current laws on urbanism, water and agricultre in order to make them more compatible with present climate conditions and realities. This revision should be undertaken in consultation with local associations and populations,
- ensure, in consultation with civil society, the necessary judicial measures to guarantee public access to information concerning cliamte and the environment, as per measures recommended in the Paris Accord and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030,
- integrate environmental statistics into the national education system, in order to ensure environmental education on climate change and launch public awareness campaigns with a specific focus on populations from the oasis so as to guarantee a strong mobilisation in the fight againt global warming. These campaigns should undoubtedly continue after COP22 takes place.
On a regional scale:
- Coordinate regional civil society and public authority initiatives (Sahel and North Africa) in the oasis to facilitate the exchange of experience, best practices and know-how in order to build resilience and adaptation to climate change,
- establish other unified advocacy efforts with the aim of helping populations through fiscal justice, permitting tax exemption on innovative products that favour sustainable development and contribute towards the protection and repair of the Oasis and cultural heritage in the countries of the region.
On an international scale:
- Demand that official partners of COP22, which will be held from November 7th to 18th 2016 in Marrakech, accord the necessary importance within discussions and negitiations to climate challenges in oasis areas and globally to the right of public access to environmental and climate information.
- Combine efforts to curb the negative effects of climate change and to make the necessary financial aid and technical assistance availabel through integrated strategies and programs.
Through this statement, we the participants of this conference organized in the leadup to COP22 invite national civil society, as well as regional and international frameworks to work towards the safeguarding, preservation and rehabilitation of the oasis as a first step in combatting desertification, and to advocate for the right of public access to environmental and climate information that is necessary for the participation of implicated populations in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies that aim to effectively halt and reverse the effects of climate change in the oasis.
