For Khalid Benomar, representative of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and coordinator of the “Just Transition” project, the climate issue has changed in nature. It can no longer be addressed as a mere technical dossier, but rather as a central challenge that is political, economic, and social. The Kingdom is faced with a reality marked by structural water stress, a temperature increase of approximately 3 °C over the past forty years, and an energy dependence that weighs on its industrial sovereignty. In an interview with the newspaper Le Matin, Benomar advocates for a transition that does not penalize businesses, favors incentive mechanisms over taxation, and prepares the country for international requirements, particularly the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The “Just Transition” project thus emerges as a central tool to align climate ambition, economic competitiveness, and productive transformation.
According to Benomar, the Moroccan public debate remains largely focused on two major themes: water and energy. For more than three decades, the country has been under persistent water pressure, exacerbated by climate change. The responses have taken the form of policies on dams, irrigation development, sanitation, and more recently, desalination. In energy terms, the historical dependence on fossil fuels has led Morocco to accelerate its transition to renewable energies. This effort responds to a strategic imperative: to reduce energy bills, limit geopolitical dependencies, and build an industrial future based on a more sovereign energy ecosystem, less exposed to international fossil fuel price fluctuations.
The climate transition has now exceeded a purely environmental dimension. Morocco is making a shift by fully integrating the concept of just transition into its climate policies. Emerging from labor movements and enshrined in the Paris Agreement, this approach aims to make low-carbon transformation fair, inclusive, and socially acceptable. It hinges on the protection of workers, reducing vulnerabilities, ensuring territorial cohesion, and creating economic opportunities, in a context where climate impacts primarily affect the most fragile populations.
This principle has been integrated into the Kingdom’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 2.0, and further reinforced in NDC 3.0, which now includes social equity, gender considerations, territorial participation, and alignment between climate objectives and budget programming. The challenge is clearly identified: without appropriate accompanying measures, the transformations underway in energy, agriculture, industry, or transport risk exacerbating existing inequalities.
It is within this framework that the “Just Transition” project is situated. Co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union as part of its Green Partnership with Morocco, this program is implemented by GIZ in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It aims to support the construction of a carbon-neutral economy and society while addressing social, regulatory, and economic gaps in the climate transition.
The project provides technical support for the development of texts and regulatory mechanisms, particularly concerning the future Moroccan carbon market. It also develops economic incentive mechanisms to encourage the decarbonization of productive sectors and supports pilot operators engaged in this dynamic. The integration of international references, mainly from Germany, helps structure a just transition adapted to the specifics of the national context. This program lies at the intersection of energy, environmental, and economic visions, constituting one of the first institutional frameworks dedicated to operationalizing just transition in Morocco.
In this new perspective, climate becomes a lever for development and competitiveness. Inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals, the National Sustainable Development Strategy adopted in 2017, and the Paris Agreement, the country’s economic transformation now places the Ministry of Finance at the heart of the framework. The “Just Transition” project thus serves as a convergence point between energy and environmental policies and economic imperatives, combining social protection with economic incentives to support the decarbonization of industry and the transformation of productive sectors.
On the fiscal front, the authorities’ position is clear. Morocco does not wish to impose additional tax pressure on economic operators. The introduction of a national carbon tax is not on the agenda and does not appear in the finance law. Given that fuels are already heavily taxed, the Kingdom prefers adjustments and the re-engineering of existing frameworks rather than the creation of new taxes. For Benomar, the environmental aspect should be seen as an economic incentive and not as a burden on competitiveness.
Several incentive mechanisms already exist, including the reduction of import duties on solar panels, certain fiscal measures, and especially the new Investment Charter. This Charter allocates 10% of investment grants to climate incentives, covering aspects like sustainable water management, renewable energies, sanitation, and pollution control. These incentives can represent up to 3% of a project’s total CAPEX, a lever that is still underutilized according to Benomar. However, he emphasizes that some sectors, such as agriculture, have already undergone transformation, with solar pumping having become an economically viable solution.
At the same time, Morocco must anticipate external constraints, particularly the European CBAM and the potential broadening of the emissions scopes concerned. The “Just Transition” project contributes to this capacity building and the necessary standardization work required to meet these international demands.
Technical analyses conducted within this framework reveal a point of fragility: public transport. Although NDC 3.0 forecasts nearly $14 billion in investments in railways, trams, RER, and electrification, these projects remain concentrated in major metropolitan areas. Medium-sized cities and rural areas, where 37% of Moroccans live, remain insufficiently covered. No social pricing mechanism is planned, and the specific needs of women, the elderly, and people with disabilities are poorly integrated. The informal transport sector, which is essential for many vulnerable workers, is not supported in its transformation. This results in an ambitious low-carbon transition that is still insufficiently inclusive, potentially exacerbating territorial and social inequalities.
Morocco currently has solid foundations: structured climate strategies, significant energy investments, social reforms, and international partnerships, notably with German cooperation. However, the gap between the national vision and its territorial application remains significant. The success of the transition will depend on the ability to territorialize policies, protect the most vulnerable workers, strengthen social dialogue, and fully integrate equity issues into sectoral policies so that the just transition truly fulfills its promises.
