MARRAKECH, Morocco, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar called on Monday for designing concrete actions to support countries that are most vulnerable to climate change.
Speaking at the opening of the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mezouar said that all participants should commit to concrete climate initiatives and actions to support the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change especially in Africa, least developed and small island developing states.
He announced that during COP22 Morocco, the National Determined Contributions (NDC) Partnership will be launched to build capacity and direct climate finance flows towards the most vulnerable.
He reiterated the importance of accelerating climate finance, innovation, transfer and capacity building to create the low-carbon economy the planet needs to stay below the 2 degree Celsius mark of global warming.
"Paris gave us a global commitment to climate change and COP22 in Marrakech will give us more ambitious climate action. We must all rise to the challenge in support of the most vulnerable countries in the fight against climate change," the COP22 president asserted.
UNFCCC Executive Director Patricia Espinosa sressed the historic significance of Morocco and Marrakech as host of the UN Climate Change Conference.
"We need to work together with speed and scale on all fronts," she said.
The COP22, held in Marrakech until November 18, will focus on action items in order to implement the priorities of the Paris Agreement, especially those related to adaptation, transparency, technology transfer, mitigation, capacity building and loss and damages.
The Paris Agreement, which was adopted in December 2015 at COP21 in Paris, was ratified in October by 96 countries and the European Union and entered into force on Nov. 4.
The conference will also be an opportunity to debate and discuss several issues related in particular to agriculture, food security, energy, industry, transport and water.
