Moroccan Princess Lalla Hasnaa co-chairs UN session on education

Bonn, Nov 17 (IANS/MAP) Princess Lalla Hasna, Moroccan King Mohammed VI's youngest sister and chairwoman of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection, co-chaired a high-level session on Education Day held here under the theme "Global partnerships to combat climate change through education".

Speaking on the occasion on Thursday, Princess Lalla Hasna underscored the paramount importance of education for sustainable development, as an essential lever to deeply change the behaviour of citizens and face the challenges of global warming.

She co-chaired the meeting with the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Patricia Espinosa.

Princess Lalla Hasna said that Article 6 of the UNFCCC and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement underscores the importance of education, training, public awareness, public access to information and international cooperation to effectively combat climate change.

She insisted that efforts made in the field of education for sustainable development have become the mandatory matrix of any action in favour of the environment.

Princess Lalla Hasna also surveyed the efforts made by Morocco in matters of environment protection that has been erected as a pillar of development, pointing out that a major stride was made in 2011 when the right to a healthy environment and sustainable development were enshrined in the Moroccan constitution.

On the sidelines of the Education Day session, the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environment Protection and the UNFCCC signed a memorandum of understanding under which they will reinforce their cooperation to carry out provisions laid down in Article 6 of the framework convention on education, training, awareness raising and public access to information.

The Moroccan Foundation has been since 2009 an observer member of the UNFCCC and regularly participates in the Conferences of the Parties (COPs).

--IANS/MAP

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