Climate change is defined as long-term changes in temperature, precipitation, wind patterns, and other components of the Earth’s climate system. It is mostly caused by human actions, particularly the use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes that raise the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, causing the greenhouse effect.
Besides, climate change has negative consequences, such as increased temperatures across the globe. Global temperatures have risen dramatically over the last century, resulting in increasingly frequent and severe heatwaves. Climate change has also increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, and wildfires. In addition, it causes melting ice, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and so on.
Consequently, countries come up with a variety of adaptation and mitigation plans. They work on the shift to energy. Renewable energy sources that can drastically cut carbon emissions, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, are replacing fossil fuels. To reduce energy use and emissions, they also focus on energy efficiency. Other adoption and mitigation techniques to lessen climate change include afforestation and reforestation. Additionally, they use environmentally friendly farming methods that can improve food security.
Nonetheless, minimizing the effects of climate change requires global collaboration, but it is difficult to conclude that all countries are equally committed to delivering on their promises. As a result, countries that are committed to combating climate change utilize a variety of techniques to demonstrate their commitment. Climate change pavilions, for example, are a crucial opportunity for organizations to unveil and demonstrate their commitment.
The Pavilion is a dedicated space or exhibition area that is frequently used at international conferences, expos, or summits to showcase initiatives, technologies, and strategies for addressing climate change. These pavilions serve as forums for discussion, knowledge sharing, and collaboration on climate-related topics.
COP meetings, particularly those held under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), are ideal venues for establishing pavilions to demonstrate their climate initiatives, commitments, and collaborative efforts. These pavilions frequently address a wide range of climate change mitigation and adaptation issues. It can also be used to promote awareness about the importance of addressing climate change, as well as the diverse ways being done throughout the world, to share best practices, inspiring people to adopt new technology or habits that improve climate resilience.
Taking these facts and its commitment into account, Ethiopia has prepared climate change pavilions on various occasions. For example, Ethiopia prepared a climate change pavilion for the COP28 meeting in Dubai last year. It gives an important chance for Ethiopia to highlight its diverse initiatives to contribute to global efforts to confront the oncoming environmental crisis.
It is also necessary to demonstrate its efforts to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change. The pavilion also emphasized renewable energy projects, sustainable land management methods, and endeavors to develop climate-resilient infrastructure. As a result, the Pavilion demonstrated Ethiopia’s strong commitment to tackling climate change through practical solutions.
Similarly, the COP29 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place this week in Baku, Azerbaijan. Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie opened the Ethiopian Pavilion at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29). The conference is significant because it brings together international leaders, policymakers, and activists with a renewed resolve to address the escalating climate crisis. The pavilion is critical to demonstrating Ethiopia’s ongoing commitment to climate change mitigation efforts.
According to Abiy Ahmed (PhD), Ethiopia is moving forward with its Paris Agreement and COP28 commitments from last year through three initiatives: the Green Legacy Initiative, which has increased forest cover by 6 % with 40 billion seedlings planted to date; an irrigated wheat program that has turned a grain deficit into a surplus by 2023; and climate-smart urban projects that are creating sustainable, greener cities with renewable energy, pedestrian pathways, and electric vehicles.
Indeed, the Green Legacy Initiative is an essential effort for addressing deforestation in the country. It is an important environmental initiative initiated by the Ethiopian government in 2019. Its principal purpose is to stop deforestation, repair degraded landscapes, and increase biodiversity throughout the country. The Initiative promotes tree planting as an important technique for tackling environmental issues such as climate change and land degradation. Furthermore, it contains goals such as tree planting, which is crucial for biodiversity conservation, community engagement, benefits, and awareness raising.
Since its inception, the Green Legacy Initiative has reached significant milestones, including: Planting billions of trees in a short time, making it one of the world’s largest tree-planting efforts. Mobilizing millions of Ethiopians, including students, government officials, and community people, to take part in tree-planting efforts. Furthermore, it is critical to develop collaboration with a variety of stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), corporate sector entities, and international organizations, to assist in reforestation activities. More crucially, the Initiative has gained international recognition as a model for large-scale reforestation efforts, inspiring similar initiatives in other nations. It highlights Ethiopia’s commitment to environmental sustainability and attempts to solve the critical issues of climate change and deforestation.
An irrigated wheat program is another important tactic Ethiopia has been pursuing to ensure food security and economic growth. Significant progress has been made in the country’s agricultural sector transformation, especially with the creation of an irrigated wheat program. By 2023, this program improved food security, boosting economic growth, and transforming the country from a grain deficit to a surplus. Hence, Ethiopia’s irrigated wheat program has greatly aided the country’s larger socioeconomic development objectives in addition to changing the agricultural landscape of the country.
Ethiopia is also working on climate-smart urban developments, which are critical to mitigating climate change. The initiative is also critical for developing sustainable, greener communities that incorporate renewable energy, pedestrian walkways, and electric vehicles. As it faces issues such as rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, and climate change, the country has become more aware of the necessity of climate-smart city development. Several programs and initiatives have been launched to encourage sustainable urban expansion, strengthen resilience, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Addis Ababa’s Climate Resilient Green City Strategy could be a good example. The city has devised a comprehensive strategy for being a climate-resilient and green city. This policy emphasizes sustainable land use, enhanced public transportation, and green spaces. The country’s efforts to encourage climate-smart urban development demonstrate its understanding of the interdependence of urbanization, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience.
Furthermore, the country is pushing clean energy throughout the country. Ethiopia has also made significant investments in renewable and green energy resources such as hydroelectric, solar, wind, and geothermal sources. Ethiopia aims to treble its present power generation capacity and double its energy consumption efficiency by 2030. This, in turn, will enable the country to attain universal access to power, reduce reliance on biomass fuel, and give opportunities for industries to meet net-zero targets by 2050.
Therefore, this year’s pavilion is imperative to promote the country’s cutting-edge methods of climate change mitigation efforts like renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and forest conservation. The pavilion has demonstrated its commitment and drive to combat the effects of climate change. It also calls on the international community to support Ethiopia’s green legacy initiatives, such as the irrigated summer wheat program and climate-smart urban developments.
BY EPHREM ANDARGACHEW
The Ethiopian herald November 17/2024
