His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco
This section will explore the solutions that King Mohammed VI proposed to face the aforementioned climate challenges. In the policies, he addresses the adverse effects on the local community and economy in Morocco.
1st Policy: Green Morocco Plan (GMP)
Launched in 2008 under King Mohammed VI’s guidance, the Green Morocco Plan was conceived in the wake of the 2007-2008 global food crisis, which was triggered by poor harvests, higher prices for oil, and rising prices of commodities, thus hitting urban poor households the hardest and highlighting Morocco’s dependence on food imports. This prompted the creation of the Green Morocco Plan as a strategy to transform Moroccan agriculture. The plan’s design was explicitly two-pronged, aiming to “promote socio-economic development through agriculture” by both modernizing large-scale commercial farming and uplifting smallholders. Pillar I of the plan focused on encouraging agricultural business investment by extensively increasing the scale of export-led agriculture. Pillar II was “solidarity” oriented, intended to support small-scale farmers in regions with less developed agricultural infrastructure through subsidies, crop diversification, and cooperative development. In this way, the Plan sought to strike a balance between major high-yielding projects and “subsistence, cooperative farming”, in the words of King Mohammed VI, so that productivity gains would also translate into rural poverty reduction.
The Green Morocco Plan goals were correspondingly ambitious. It targeted a doubling of agricultural GDP from around MAD 60 billion to 90 billion. Within a decade, it created 1.5 million new jobs, and a two to three times increase in rural incomes, for three million people. Food security and export competitiveness were both emphasized.
The Plan aimed to boost agricultural food exports to MAD 44 billion by 2020, capitalize on Morocco’s advantage in fruits and vegetables, high-value crops, and reduce reliance on grain imports. At the same time, it supported sustainable practices, notably a National Program for Irrigation Water Savings, with massive public investment in drip irrigation technology to combat water scarcity. From the outset, King Mohammed VI positioned the Green Morocco Plan as central to Morocco’s development trajectory: it formed part of a broader “comprehensive, sustainable development model” alongside parallel initiatives in fisheries and renewable energy.
The plan’s launch marked a strategic reorientation back toward agriculture as an engine of growth and social progress, with the King’s endorsement ensuring coordination and the mobilization of substantial resources, including public-private partnerships and external funding, to fulfill its vision. In sum, the Green Morocco Plan was the flagship solution advanced by the King Mohammed VI government to modernize agriculture, bolster climate resilience, and create rural development in Morocco from 2008 to 2020.
2nd Policy: Act 81-12
Morocco is vulnerable to sea level rise as 60-65% of the population lives by the coast, whose livelihood depends on agriculture and tourism. These sectors are volatile to the climatic changes from salinity intrusion and land degradation, posing a risk to water security and infrastructure. To cope with the detrimental effects of rising sea level, King Mohammed V implemented Act 81-12.
Act 81-12 was integrated in 2015 with a focus on three main pillars: (a) the establishment of a framework for integrated coastal governance; (b) the protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems; and (c) the enhancement of the resilience of coastal areas to climate change.
The first aspect of the policy is integrated coastal governance, which aims to balance development and conservation efforts for Morocco’s coastline. Several mechanisms have been implemented, for instance, the tiered planning system, which ensures that all planning levels are incorporated when measuring coastal protection. More precisely, in 2016, the National Coastal Commission, alongside independent regional commissions, was created to voice both national and local concerns. This also included the participation of sectoral ministries (housing, infrastructure, tourism), businesses, and civil society. This system allows stakeholders to collaborate and achieve equitable management of coastal zones.
The second addresses the protection of coastal ecosystems, aiming to mitigate the adverse effects of rising sea level, which is salinity intrusion, coastal erosion, and pollution. Coastal ecosystem protection includes identifying the biological and ecological equilibrium of the coast and safeguarding damaged zones. For instance, stringent regulations are in place to protect coastal ecosystems like the prohibition of significant infrastructure of roads and railways within 2 kilometres of the shoreline. Additionally, 100 meters needs to be accounted for between the shore and any buildings. The men–made buffer zones to preserve the natural barriers to protect itself from water intrusion and safeguard the shoreline from further land erosion. Another aspect of the policy is equitable use of coastal resources, it prohibits the discharge of any pollutant material along shorelines. The sustainable coastal plans entail a strong environment to combat rising sea level, water intrusion, and erosion.
The last pillar, climate resilience and adaptation is closely tied to the previous point. Planners forecast climate risks, such as severe weather and rising sea levels to manage its effects in the future. It also fosters the development of new ideas and research that will contribute to the preservation of the coast’s health. Additionally, the commissions that have been established involve the consideration of local expertise and community needs to develop solutions that benefit everyone.
The 2015 policy laid a great foundation for King Mohammed VI to focus on anthropogenic global warming induced issues, which tie climate change policies with the development of the country. The policy acknowledges that coastal regions in Morocco are populated and an economic hub. Moahmmed VI wanted to face these challenges through this policy since he recognised potential saving of national capital by optimising the previously mentioned key aspects, as well as further investment into the country’s development.
3rd Policy: National Adaptation Plan (NAP1)
The National Adaptation Plan (NAP) was an initiative started by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010. Shortly followed in 2016, Morocco’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP1) committed to spending 15 percent of its overall investment budgets, an approximate of 36 billion USD will be spent between 2020 and 2030. The policy will tackle Morocco’s most vulnerable sectors to climate change, including water, forestry, and agriculture. In order to tackle climate change, Morocco must undergo modernization to ensure that poverty, political unrest, and socio-economic development do not hinder its successes. The NAP1 has been designed to do exactly this by addressing these elements in a five-pillar climate strategy plan. It highlights the importance of institutions, scientific research, societal resilience, vulnerability mitigation, adaptive ecosystems, and economic durability. The policy places King Mohammed VI as a climate leader driven by a strategic vision that links environmental action to national security, development, and economic transformation.
The first pillar, strong institutions, highlights the importance of governance. Morocco needs to modernize its existing framework to successfully run the NAP1. The country underwent several changes to achieve the requirements of the UNFCCC. With this goal in mind, the National Committee for Climate Change was created in 2007. Its body formulates, implements, and monitors national policies and strategies related to climate change, enhancing the reliability of progress on a national level. Moreover, a Central Directorate was created within the Ministry of Environment, focusing on climate change, biodiversity, and the green economy. The new frameworks of the constitution allow funding mechanisms and high-level oversight to be possible. Moreover, it shall promote sustainable economic development by protecting the environment and geographic, heritage, cultural, and historical wealth. Nevertheless, critics point out that this system limits local engagement and civil social participation as the government remains overly centralized, thus limiting effective implementation and accountability.
The second pillar, scientific research, sees the value in the importance of science-based adaptation strategies. To assess climate change impacts and vulnerabilities at the national level, Morocco has carried out various studies. The most known are the GIS-based catastrophe risk modelling and the Morocco Natural Hazards Probabilistic Risk Assessment (MnhPRA). Their measurements allow for an analysis of earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, droughts, and landslides. Further institutions like the Moroccan Competence Centre for Climate Change (4C Morocco) were established to enhance the efficiency of research, innovation, and international collaboration in African outreach. Additionally, factors like gender-sensitive climate data were also implemented in the GIS-based risk assessment. However, shortcomings in technical capacity due to local-level limits and fragmented climate-risk data remain challenges to be improved.
The third axis is vulnerability mitigation; its efforts try to reduce the potential damage caused by climate change to society. The aim is to support the most vulnerable populations during natural disasters like droughts and floods through comprehensive disaster insurance programs and solidarity funds. Whilst Morocco invests in resilient infrastructure, vulnerability persists around water resource management. The reason is that too much focus rests on water supply-oriented solutions such as dams and desalination. Scholars believe that a more effective approach would be to shift to demand management and equity-driven resource allocation to prevent an increase in poverty.
The fourth axis, ecosystem resilience, aims to improve the health of the environment as an adaptation method. The ‘Forests of Morocco 2020–2030’ for instance combats desertification and land degradation by reforestation, sustainable forestry, and community involvement. The project led to positive effects on the ecosystems and fostering new rural employment. Nevertheless, critics point out that climate-induced droughts and wildfires present ongoing challenges. Moreover, caution arises against overly technical solutions, such as energy-intensive desalination, advocating integrated ecosystem management to sustain ecological balance and community equity.
Finally, economic resilience aims to climate-proof key sectors—agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and industry. Morocco’s “Génération Green 2020–2030” promotes climate-smart agriculture, advanced irrigation technologies, drought-resistant crops, and renewable energy expansion. These initiatives significantly enhance energy security and economic stability. However, access to adaptation technologies remains uneven, and disadvantaged small farmers and potentially increasing socioeconomic disparities. Targeted subsidies and equitable distribution of resources are necessary to ensure widespread resilience and social cohesion.In summary, under King Mohammed VI’s leadership, NAP1 presents an integrated, ambitious adaptation strategy. While institutional strength and strategic investments position Morocco as a regional climate leader, ensuring sustainability requires addressing persistent vulnerabilities, improving equity in resource management, and promoting inclusive governance.
IExRAIA Summer Research Program:
This article is an excerpt from a report on King Mohammed VI produced as part of an RAIA research program on climate leaders. For a full picture of Ruto’s climate leadership, including the sources, read the full report. This project was fully financed by IE University’s IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs.
Authors: Finja Ullrich & Aleksej Obradovic
Editor: Ruby Hawari
Project Leads: Roxane de Bergevin & Stefani Obradovic
Table of Contents
