Ethiopia has been experiencing the effects of climate change. In 2016, about 10 million citizens faced shortage of food due to ElNino induced drought. Due to this, the country was forced to subsidize the victims by shifting finance from its development projects. The international community also was supporting the effort to offer food and non food assistances to the drought affected nationals.
A recent study by the World Bank indicated that climate change will reduce Ethiopia’s GDP growth between 0.5 and 2.5 per annum. In addition to the direct effect, temperature increment and rainfall fluctuation forced the government to focus on Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) initiative.
The initiative believed to protect the country from the adverse effects of climate change and build a green economy that will help realize the ambition of reaching middle income country by 2025. Since February 2011, the CRGE initiative, under the leadership of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Environmental Protection Authority, and the Ethiopian Development Research Institute, has been developing a strategy to build a green economy.
Seven sectoral teams involving more than 50 experts from more than 20 leading government institutions have been driving the initiative, the information from Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC) indicated.
The objective is to identify green economy opportunities that could help Ethiopia reach its ambitious growth plan and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions side by side. The government intends to attract development partners to help implement the sustainable growth model.
EFCCC Resource Mobilization and Project Administration Director General Redi Hashim said that the commission had outlined climateresilience 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.
Supporting and tapping Ethiopia’s climate resilient economy potentials would help the nation realizing greenery goals. Similarly, the support would help to avert possible climate change impacts.
Recently a business to business workshop on tapping Ethiopia’s green development opportunities was held here organized by Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in collaboration with EFCCC. On the occasion, Institute Africa and Europe Green Growth Programs, Planning and Implementation Head Dexippos Agourides said that his institute has a plan to advance the mutual cooperation in knowledge and technology transfer on country’s climate resilient economy.
His organization works with Ethiopian government to achieve green growth in various financial and technical assistances. The workshop was intended to develop partnerships through bringing together business persons working in green growth and enable them understand the appropriate technology in renewable energy including solar systems investment in Ethiopia, he noted. According to Agourides, Ethiopia has ambitious target to become middle income countries without increasing green house emission.
Therefore, investing in renewable or alternative technologies is a key to this end. Similarly, strengthening cooperation with the right development partners is critical to achieve the plan, 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.
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 focused on building green economy.”
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. 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, according to Redi.
Today the institute is working in eight African countries including Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan among others. In order to realize the initiatives indicated in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the country and thereby to reach the intended commitment level, it requires an integrated coordination and monitoring mechanisms to ensure active engagement of policy and decision makers.
The outcome of CoP24 held in Katowice, Poland, also confirms the international commitment against climate change and the approval of the Rulebook, as requested by the Paris Agreement, highlights the respect of the commitments determined by each country and defines the modality to elaborate, implement and monitor the NDCs, it was learnt. Ethiopia is committed towards building a climate resilient green economy as country’s economy is mainly based on agriculture which is amongst the sectors that is highly affected by climate change.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warned that there are only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5°C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.
As to Kabenga, despite the challenges presented by climate change, the government is working towards creating new opportunities for investment, partnerships, jobs creation and improvement of human conditions, while reducing carbon emissions and improving resilience to climate change effects. He added that GGGI will continue its support for Ethiopia’s critical transition to green growth model and the effective implementation of the NDCs.
In addition to the institute, today various development partners are supporting Ethiopia’s green economy strategy in various projects. The World Bank, together with other partners, has been financing country’s Sustainable Land Management Program in six regional states of the Ethiopian highlands to transform the way landscapes are managed by convening sectors, providing resources and partners. In this regard, countries like Norway, Canada and Germany are supporting the project.
Accordingly, 135 major watersheds were constructed in 135 woredas in the six regional states during major drought period. Therefore, strengthening cooperation with development partners is critical to realize the greenery programs. As a result, the country would achieve its plan to build climate change resilient economy and to become middle income country by 2025.
If the efforts exerting by EFCCC achieved, the nation would also increase the current 15.5 percent forest coverage to 20 at the end of GTP II. There is also a plan to increase the current four percent shares of the forest industry earnings to eight percent in similar period. However, the government ought to strengthen its bilateral ties with development partners to attain the needed technical and financial support.
Herald March 5/2019
BY YOHANES JEMANEH
