AFRICA: in 2023, the Global Green Event accelerates in environmental professions
The Global Green Event opened on Wednesday, November 22, 2023 at the Mohammed VI Exhibition Center in El-Jadida, Morocco. This environmental fair opens at a time when North Africa, the Horn of Africa and Southern Africa are facing unprecedented water stress.
According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), approximately 83% of people in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region live under conditions of extreme water stress, with more than 80% of water supplies being used. for irrigation, livestock, industry and domestic needs. This situation is expected to get worse by 2050.
Alternative solutions, notably the reuse of treated wastewater and desalination, are on the agenda of the discussions of the Global Green Event (formerly Pollutec Maroc), the 13th edition of which opened on Wednesday November 22, 2023 in the coastal town of El -Jadida. Organized under the aegis of the Moroccan Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, this international exhibition welcomes at least 10,000 professional visitors and at least 300 companies who exhibit their know-how in ecological transition and sustainable development. .
The exhibitions cover at least 10 themes, including water and polluted water. This subject has come up again in recent years throughout North Africa, in a context marked by water stress which also affects the Horn of Africa, the Sahel and southern Africa.
Renewable energies are also at the heart of exchanges, since the Shereef kingdom wants to increase the share of renewable energies in its electricity mix by focusing in particular on solar and wind power. In 2021, the share of clean energy in Morocco's electricity mix was 37.6%, or 4,050 MW according to official figures. Several African countries are taking the same path. This is the case of Egypt and South Africa, which are accelerating their energy transition.
A new challenge is now being added to the production of renewable energies: green hydrogen and its derivatives, notably ammonia for agriculture and even sustainable aviation fuel. In the opinion of several energy specialists, this emerging sector should accelerate the ecological transition after 2030. At the Global Green Event, exhibitions are also organized around waste management, sustainable cities, green buildings, pollution industrial and other pollution risks.
