Territorial Climate Planning as a Subnational Integration Process: Case of the Souss Massa Region, Morocco

The Paris Agreement recognizes the critical role of subnational stakeholders, particularly in the most vulnerable areas. In reality, the territorialization process of the climate change’ issue is viewed as a flexible and effective framework for developing, prioritizing, and executing approporiate policies to address this topic, with emphasis on territorial particularities. Due to its topography and the nature of the regional economy, which is based mostly on the exploitation of natural resources, the Souss Massa Region is one of those regions strongly influenced by climate change. This vulnerability manifests itself in various impacts, including economic issues related to the competitiveness of the primary producing sectors in the region (agriculture and fisheries), as well as social and territorial problems like the deepening of rural emigration, underemployment, and territorial imbalances within the region. For many years, crises regarding the water availability (for drinking or agricultural purposes), the depletion of fishery supplies, and the deterioration of forested and parkland areas have effectively raised public and stakeholder’s awareness of climate change. Water scarcity combined with the impacts of climate change is dramatically impacting the welfare and the lives of people in the Souss Massa Region and in Morocco. Furthermore, as part of its UNFCCC commitments, the Kingdom of Morocco has adopted and initiated the implementation of an ambitious climate policy. This national policy, which contains the operational framework to fight against the effects of climate change, is carried out by the territorial declaration as one of the strategic tools used to consolidate inter-sectoral efforts to combat climate change within an integrated and consistent approach. The primary strategic objective of such a policy is the development and implementation of a territorial vision of climate change fighting which is fully consistent with Morocco's commitment to adaptation and mitigation. In fact, mainstreaming climate change challenges in territorial planning helps ensure people's safety by increasing environmental and socioeconomic durability, empowering climate change mitigation as well as adaptation, and by improving natural environmental hazards management. In this chapter we will expose the approaches and main constituent elements of a territorial climate planning process conducted in the Souss Massa Region. We will also present the tools that have been developed for inclusive territorial governance. Simultaneously, we will discuss the opportunity provided by this highly participatory process to foster synergy among stakeholders and the convergence and compatibility of territorial sectoral policies with sustainability principles. Also, we will present the major challenges and opportunities to extend the Nexus EEA approach in the region to achieve sustainability, resilience and water security.