<\/p>\n\n\n\n
under the auspices of H.E. Mr. Abdelkader El Ansari, Ambassador of Morocco <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Athens, June 18, 2012<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n On June 18, 2012, the Biopolitics International Organisation<\/strong> and the Hellenic Chapter of the Club of Rome<\/strong> organized a luncheon reception\nunder the auspices of H.E. Mr.\nAbdelkader El Ansari, Ambassador of Morocco. <\/strong>The event was themed \u201cGreen Governance \u2013 Building a Society of\nHope \u2013 The Case of Morocco\u201d<\/strong> and featured Professor Assia Bensalah Alaoui, Morocco\u2019s Ambassador-at-Large<\/strong>, as\nkeynote speaker. It convened distinguished personalities, academics, business\nleaders and other people of influence to discuss Mediterranean policies and new\nopportunities for growth and recovery with the aim of building a society of\nhope. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The event was chaired by Professor Agni Vlavianos Arvanitis<\/strong>, President and Founder of the\nBiopolitics International Organisation and the Hellenic Chapter of the Club\nof Rome<\/strong>, and attended by Ambassadors and dignitaries from 24 countries,\nincluding Greece, Morocco,<\/strong> Belgium,\nArgentina, Canada, Switzerland, Mexico, Algeria, <\/strong>Armenia, Iraq, Jordan, Peru, the Philippines, Serbia, Thailand,\nTunisia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Palestine, FYROM, Turkey, Luxemburg, India and\nAngola. <\/strong>The event was also attended by the President of the Brussels\u2013EU Chapter of the Club of Rome, Mark\nDubrulle. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the opening of the event, Ambassador El Ansari<\/strong> greeted all participants and expressed his\ngratitude to Professor Vlavianos Arvanitis for organizing the conference and\nfor shedding light on the need to handle politics from a different angle, the\nangle of green governance and green development. He thanked Professor Alaoui\nfor finding the time to come to Athens for this conference and stressed that\nthe Embassy of Morocco promotes academic and cultural activities to bridge\nrelations with Greece and with other friends. \u201cPolitical relations are\nexcellent, but in the economic and social field these good relations can be\nfurther stimulated. The purpose of this event is therefore to raise greater\nawareness of what is happening in Morocco in the specific field of green\ngovernance and green development, especially in view of the big conference in\nRio de Janeiro, the Rio+20 conference, which will be dealing with these\nmatters.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before introducing the keynote speaker, Professor Vlavianos Arvanitis<\/strong> extended\na warm welcome to all the dignitaries and distinguished friends present. She\nthanked Ambassador and Mrs. El Ansari for supporting the event and also\nexpressed her admiration for the Ambassador\u2019s efforts to expand the friendship\nand ties with his country. \u201cWe are living in a time of economic crisis,\npolitical crisis, environmental crisis, a crisis in values, and, above all, a\ncrisis in leadership. So many leaders are present today, and we all have to\nrealize that major reforms are needed. In this spirit, we have organized this\nconference, and with over 25 Ambassadors present the hope is to spread this\nmessage everywhere. You are the leaders representing your country, please\nconvey the message that we need to place at the core of societal structure the\nprotection of the environment and the urgency of working together. Let\u2019s\nappreciate our differences and save diversity and variety in all disciplines.\nLet\u2019s choose the dimensions of technology that are not destructive but can save\nthe environment and future generations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Alaoui<\/strong>\nthanked Professor Vlavianos Arvanitis and Ambassador El Ansari and proceeded to\nhighlight that Morocco has been going through a very interesting revolution in\nthe wake of the Arab Spring. \u201cThese reforms are in line with the commitment of\nthe Kingdom to protect the environment and promote sustainable development, and\nare strongly supported by the Royal will in line with the principles of Islam\nand the ambition to make Moroccans active eco-citizens in harmony with the\ndiversity of their human and natural environment. The mobilization of all\nstakeholders to meet the huge challenges stemming from a deep concern for water\navailability and the need to decrease energy dependency, which consumes 11% of\nthe GDP, is supported by new development strategies and new technologies\nwishing to reconcile responsible growth with social equity and solidarity.\nContrary to lip service often paid to these matters across the world,\nenvironmental protection is becoming a reality in Morocco. We still have a very\nlong way to go, but the ambition of His Majesty is to put sustainable\ndevelopment concerns at the heart of our development policy. The liberalization\nof the economy through free trade agreements, the reduction of poverty,\nilliteracy and urban-rural disparities, the upgrading of human rights and the\nrevolutionizing of the family code have led to progressive integration of the\nenvironmental component in sectorial strategies. Furthermore, the consolidation\nof democracy and the implementation of sustainable development have materialized\ninto a Charter for the Environment in February 2011, which paved the way for a\nframework law on the environment to be submitted to Parliament at the end of\nthis year. In addition, we have been extremely keen on devising follow-up tools\nand operational means with dedicated financial measures to meat environmental\novercosts. Morocco is in charge of the Focus Group on Green Economy and\nTerritorial Development in the framework of a joint OECD\u2013MENA Program. The\ndevelopment of civil society is also crucial, as Moroccan public policies and\nthe Constitution are encouraging the mushrooming of civil society associations\nacross the country, 2000 of which are active in the environmental field and\npromote education. Morocco has launched a number of flagship projects to\nsupport the long-term greening of its economy and to achieve a Green New Deal.\nThese include the recycling of liquid and solid waste, the rationalization of\nthe agricultural use of water as part of a broader strategy to save water,\nplans to secure human dignity and fight against poverty, and green plans for a\ngreen Morocco supporting the modernization of traditional and small peasant\nagriculture. In this context, Morocco\u2019s new energy policy focuses on renewable\nenergy through the much talked-about solar plant, the first and largest\nproject, and through wind energy, in the hope that, by 2020, 42% of electricity\nproduction in the country will be based on renewable energy and funded by\ninitiatives at the forefront of technology. But, much more than strategies,\nwhat we need is to generate behaviors as well as a culture for\nenvironment-friendly behaviors, and education is at the heart of the whole\nprocess. What is the use of a national policy if you do not have the human\nresources ready to engage in the implementation of such very ambitious\nstrategies?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Alaoui is an internationally acclaimed law\nprofessor, author and development expert, with an impressive academic career at\nthe University Mohammed V in Rabat and as a leading consultant for many international\nhigh level advisory groups, committees and organizations concerned with peace,\nsecurity and human development issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" under the auspices of H.E. Mr. Abdelkader El Ansari, Ambassador of Morocco Athens, June 18, 2012 On June 18, 2012, the Biopolitics International Organisation and the Hellenic Chapter of the Club of Rome organized a luncheon reception under the auspices of H.E. Mr. Abdelkader El Ansari, Ambassador of Morocco. 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