Despite its extensive use of coal for electricity generation, Morocco is not one of the world’s biggest radiators of carbon, a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has shown.
The report, titled “Taxing Energy Consumption Development: Opportunities for reforming energy taxation and subsidies in certain emerging and developing economies,” revealed results of efficient energy use from 15 developing and emerging market economies, including Morocco.
According to OECD, the results aim to inform policymakers about Taxing Energy Use for Sustainable Development (TEU-SD). The idea is to help governments translate high-level policy ambitions, such as those under the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), into concrete action at the national level.
OECD’s report showed that between 2007 and 2017, Morocco’s GDP grew by an average of 3.9% per year in total, and 2.5% per capita, while energy-related CO2 emissions increased by 2.4% per year in total, and 1.0% per capita.
Morocco’s use of fossil fuels increased from 30.7% of CO2 emissions from energy use in 2007 to 33.3% in 2017.
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The country’s non-combustible energy sources, such as wind and solar, accounted for 4.9% of primary energy use in 2017, up from 2.7% in 2007.
Due to Morocco being a net energy importer, its electrification rate is complete and 95.0% of Moroccans have access to clean cooking.
In addition to Morocco, the report examines the taxation of energy in Cote D’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, and Uruguay.
OECD revealed that five of the 15 countries do not use any coal. Meanwhile, the use of wind and solar energy is growing fast in 13 of the 15 countries that have experienced a carbon tax reform that would be relatively straightforward to implement.
The report also shows that developing countries could raise badly needed government revenues, while at the same time reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution by making better use of energy taxes or reducing fossil fuel subsidies.
In late 2020, Morocco’s Minister of Energy Aziz Rabbah announced the country’s plan for the development of renewable energies. He said Morocco envisions reducing its energy consumption by 20% by 2030 and exceeding 52% of its installed electrical power from renewable resources.
Morocco’s energy transition, which began in 2009, involves regional integration with an objective to optimize the Moroccan electricity mix around reliable and competitive technological choices through different means in terms of renewable energies.
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