Morocco : Cost Assessment of Environmental Degradation

This report is the first step in a
process toward using environmental damage cost assessments
for priority setting and as an instrument for integrating
environmental issues into economic and social development.
The report provides estimates of damage cost for several
areas of the environment: air, water, land and forests, and
waste disposal. The estimates should be considered as orders
of magnitude and a range is provided to indicate the level
of uncertainty. As areas of priority are identified, further
analysis will be required for more accurate estimates. Due
to data limitations, the damage cost of environmental
degradation has not been estimated in several areas:
industrial, hazardous, and hospital waste disposal;
unsanitary landfills; degradation of natural ecosystems and
biodiversity; and groundwater resource degradation and
over-extraction. In addition and due to the complexity of
the problem, the report only partially captures damage
resulting from soil degradation. The report points t the
need to further assess and quantify current and potential
future damage costs related to those impacts.