1,500 Journalists To Cover COP 22

From Kofi Attenkah, Rabat-Morocco
About 1,500 journalists from across the world are expected to cover the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, scheduled to take place in Marrakech from November 7 to 18, 2016.

They include editors, news editors, reporters and correspondents from television and radio stations, online media, newspapers, as well as magazines in Anglophone, Francophone and Spanish speaking countries amongst others.

This was disclosed by Ms Samira Sitail, head of the Press and Communication team of the COP 22, at a press briefing at the Ministry of Interior to introduce some visiting African journalists, who are billed to cover the event later in November, to the Moroccan Minister, Mohamed Hassad.

Ms Sitail said even though the number appears to be huge, she trusts that Morocco has the capacity to ensure that every journalist who travels from their home country to cover the climate change event would have access to free movement to do their job.

She explained that it is important that journalists are given the opportunity to come in their numbers to cover the event, which is very dear to the hearts of African heads of states, in order to reach out to as many people as possible across the globe, for them to understand the significance of water in the Climate Change adaptation mix.

According to Ms Sitail, her outfit was doing everything possible to put in place the necessary arrangements to ensure that members of the press who throng the beautiful Moroccan city of Marrakech to cover the event do so in a friendly and hustle free environment.

To this end, efforts were being put in place, she noted, to address all immigration and security problems the journalists are expected to go through at the airport to enable them have smooth passage to the conference grounds.

The Interior Minister, Mr. Mohamed Hassad, on his part was optimistic that Morocco has the capacity to host the over 20,000 participants from all over the world, who are scheduled to converge at the magic city of Marrakech for the global event.

He explained that Morocco is determined at all cost to do whatever it takes to ensure that the COP 22 does not only becomes very successful, but it would also encourage all other countries, especially Africa, to come together to fight climate change, which has become an albatross hanging around the necks of all and sundry.

According to him, all security arrangements have been completed, saying it is his hope that no unexpected incident would happen as far as the organization of the 11-day conference was concerned.

He promised that issues and challenges regarding visa acquisition by journalists to cover the conference, as well as participants, would be streamlined to ensure that each and every person who travels to Morocco goes through immigration without sweat.

The COP 22 is a follow-up to the COP 21 conference, which was held in Paris, France in 2015, aimed at pushing and bringing into reality a pact arrived at last year's event, known as the 'Paris Agreement'.

Participants at the Paris conference agreed on four major thematic areas, the first of which is to establish rules and mechanisms to get the rest of the world to reduce the global temperature that currently stands at 3°C to 2.

The conference also agreed that all countries should endeavour to stick to their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and to adapt to climate change.

Again, the conference called on all, especially, developed countries to focus on their commitment to contribute to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) aimed at raising US$100 billion annually, as well as private finance mobilization through banks, investors, and insurances to support southern countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Furthermore, it was agreed that an action agenda aimed at mobilizing all non-state actors to make individual, community and business commitments should be encouraged, and to strengthen major partnership initiatives in all areas of mitigation or adaptation in order to accelerate the transformation of our societies.

For the first time, the issue of water took the center stage within a climate change conference during COP 21, which gave birth to the launch of several initiatives in the action agenda including the Pact of Paris on water, the business alliance for Water and Climate, and the megacities coalition for water.