UK aid money is set to partially fund Morocco’s Ouarzazate solar project, but a recent report says that the project could increase poverty in the North African country. Oscar Reyes said in the World Development Movement’s paper: “By setting in place an export-led model that is likely to see electricity costs for the Moroccan people increase, and by asking the Moroccan government to subsidize the creation of a risky mega-project, Ouarzazate could make it more difficult for ordinary Moroccans to access electricity, especially in rural areas.”
He discussed how the project was being funded by UK’s overseas aid project that was established to reduce poverty, but projects such as Ouarzazate could have the opposite outcome. The World Development Movement is calling for the new global Green Climate Fund, intended to replace temporary arrangements such the World Bank’s Clean Technology Fund and to prioritize projects that tackle poverty and aid transition to a low carbon economy instead of subsidizing multinational companies.
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