Gender and territorial governance for a fair climate response: cases from Morocco

Introducing a more environmentally friendly approach in territorial action plans in the water, agriculture, energy and waste sectors at local and regional levels contributes towards climate mitigation and adaptation. The involvement of women via this participative approach has enabled a stronger introduction of local knowledge into local sectoral programs reducing GHG emissions in energy consumption (ie. heating, insulation), and increasing climate adaptation capacities (ie. agriculture techniques).

ADFM promotes the gender approach in local and regional policies by: 1) building women’s capacity to participate in decision-making processes at local levels; 2) making women more resilient to climate change; 3) strengthening territorial resilience by bridging local decision-makers with women’s local knowledge in agriculture, home heating, water and waste; 4) disseminating a culture of gender equality and participatory approach.

In Morocco, over 1500 municipalities belonging to 75 provinces and 12 regions will have to set-up an “Equity, equal opportunities and gender approach advisory body” in the next years, as enshrined in the new territorial Law 111-14, 112-14 and 113-14. ADFM’ first experiment in 11 municipalities can be extended to many other regions, based on results evaluation and follow-up activities.