ADDIS ABABA –Supporting and tapping Ethiopia’s climate resilient economy potentials would help the nation realizing greenery goals and practitioners said Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
Attending a business workshop organized by Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission and GGGI that held yesterday here, Institute Africa and Europe Green Growth Programs, Planning and Implementation Head Dexippos Agourides said that mutual cooperation in knowledge and technology transfer on climate resilient economy would be expanded to great extent .
His organization works with Ethiopian government to achieve green growth in various financial and technical assistances. The two- day workshop is intended to develop partnerships through bringing togther business presons working in green growth and enable them understand the appropriate technology in renewable energy including solar systems investment in Ethiopia, he noted.
Ethiopia has ambitious target to become middle income countries by 2025 without increasing green house emission. Therefore, investing in renewable or alternative technologies is a key to this aspect and this could be realized in strengthening cooperation with the right development partners, he stated.
Institute Country Representative to Ethiopia Innocent Kabenga also noted that the institute has been supporting Ethiopia through undertaking analytic study aiming at tracking the green growth fans that come into the country on renewable energy and water resource.
As to him, the institute works on capacity building in making the people and other partners understand about green growth and the way they can contribute to its implementation. “We are helping the government in resource mobilization to realize its green economy plan. This year the institute admitted a proposed three million USD for the application of the projects. The institute is also working to apply five projects including focused on building green economy.”
Ethiopian Environment Forest and Climate Change Commission Resource Mobilization and Project Administration Director General Redi Hashim for his part said that the commission had outlined climate resilience economy development strategy before seven years that get international acceptance and support.
The country has been endeavoring to realize the strategy by strengthening bilateral ties and cooperation with development partners. In 2016, Ethiopia and Italy have signed a technical agreement to strengthening cooperation in the effort to create climate change resilient economy, he said. Currently the country is moving to implement more than four projects in which the government of Italy supports about seven million USD.
Accordingly, advancing renewable energy exploration, weather forecasting, climate smart agriculture and capacity building activities are the core points of the projects, he told. Part of the projects would also advance environment, energy, water and waste management activities. Therefore, development partners are playing important role in supporting Ethiopia’s goal in the area, he noted.
Today the institute is working in eight African countries including Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan among others. And there is also a plan to expand its continental routes, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian Herald, February 26/2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
