BY YOHANES JEMANEH
In a world that is vulnerable to manmade and natural disasters, building a sustainable and decent economy is the ambition that every government should crave for.
In fact, building a climate-resilient economy is the call of the day. These days, most of the world’s countries are working on mitigating climate change impacts and trying to build their economies using renewable energies thereby averting environmental pollution in the long run.
In this regard, various national, continental, and global legal frameworks and programs are being implemented to cope with climate change impacts. Several consecutive meetings and conferences are also being conducted to evaluate progress and forward future prospects on ensuring green growth.
Ahead of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UN Climate Champions hosted the “African Roundtable on Initiatives to Accelerate Climate Action and Advance the SDGs” and “Coordination Meeting of the African Group of Climate Change Negotiators and National UNFCCC Focal Persons” from 2-4 August 2022.
A press release sent to The Ethiopian Herald indicated that the events brought together key stakeholders from both public and private sectors, to showcase both the success stories of private sector investments in climate areas as well as investment-ready climate initiatives in the Member States towards ensuring enhanced actualizing climate action at scale and speed to strengthen African economies and build resilience.
The Roundtable provided a platform to deliberate on catalytic mechanisms to mobilize climate finance investments and crowd in the private sector towards building climate resilience as well as advancing Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda.
The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) also gathered to lead negotiators and UNFCCC focal persons from across the continent to deliberate on the key outstanding climate change negotiations issues and discuss the latest information on the road to COP27, the release stated.
With the Ukraine war is affecting the rising food, fuel, and fertilizer prices and the fiscal tightening in the US and UK. At the event, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the ECA Vera Songwe said “Conversation is not only about recovery; it is about resilience. We need to collectively leverage our instruments to create an industry that remains strong against these shocks.”
In relation to this, the ECA launched a Liquidity and Sustainability (LSF) to improve market access for African countries by increasing the liquidity of their debt instruments. The LSF could save African issuers up 11 billion USD over five years in interest costs. Furthermore, the facility aims to incentivize SDG-linked investment, including increasing green bond issuances, the Executive Secretary mentioned.
For Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina J. Mohammed, a wide investment from the private sector is needed to advance the progress of green growth. “The private sector will play a key role in determining whether we succeed or fail, the Economic Commission for Africa estimates that investment in Africa’s green sectors brings a return as high as 420 percent in value addition and as high as 250 percent in job creation,” she said.
At the meeting, Ethiopia also reflected on its vulnerability to climate change impacts and the national endeavors to mitigate this impact. Representing Ethiopia at the meeting, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide underscored the impacts of climate change in Ethiopia and the local solutions to counter this.
“Climate change significantly affects the country’s fiscal space and affects the most vulnerable. We are aggressively supporting the solar energy sector through various incentives and committing to a 68.8 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030,” Ahmed said. It is to bear in mind that Ethiopia has been applying various greenery projects to reduce climate change impacts and benefit from global carbon markets.
ECA is also supporting Member Countries of the Congo Basin Climate Commission to develop a high-integrity carbon market in the region which could significantly contribute toward closing the financing gap for climate resilience and SDG implementation. Arlette Soudan Nonault, Minister of the Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin of the Republic of Congo stated “this initiative could contribute significantly to the regulation of the global climate whilst mobilizing the revenue Africa needs to adapt to climate change. With a price of at least 50 USD per tonne, there is a potential to generate approximately 15 billion USD per annum for African countries.”
ECA has also supported a study that showed the cost of battery precursor production close to the source of battery mineral extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo would be 15-20 percent cheaper than other destinations and would contribute 30 percent less emissions than if manufactured in Asia.
The African Group of Negotiators Chair Ephraim Shitima called for COP27 to be focused on implementation, for financial pledges to be delivered and for concrete commitments from developed nations. “The African Group will not only call for the delivery of the 100 billion USD goal that should’ve been made by 2020 but for an increase of at least 150 billion USD per year until 2025,” he said.
The African Roundtable showed the importance of continued collaboration between public and private sectors as well as other concerned stakeholders. And in the discussion, calls were made for a just energy transition that prioritizes accessible, affordable, and socially responsible climate financing is imperative.
In addition, a case was made for Africa to leverage the opportunity of a carbon credit market and other innovative financing mechanisms such as debt-for-climate swaps and KPI-linked bonds which can be used to reduce the cost of capital, provide longer and more secure loans and demonstrate more policy stability which in turn attracts new investors. A consensus was reached to push for developing countries to make good on their climate commitments and request transparency and specific timelines on when these commitments will be delivered. The input from the Roundtables will be used to consolidate Africa’s common position for COP27.
Ethiopia has been contributing its share to the climate change resilience program by applying its Green Legacy initiative launched in 2019. The country has been affected by the consequences of climate change and is considered a climate vulnerable country.
That’s why Ethiopia’s immediate and practical approach to addressing climate change has become the Green Legacy initiative. This Legacy has been instrumental in creating public awareness, thereby leading to a significant improvement in the rate of forestation.
When the country launched this year’s Green Legacy program on the 1st of June, it announced the plan of planting seven billion trees. Through its Prime Minister, Ethiopia also invited African brothers and sisters to join its efforts in making Green Legacy a continent-wide phenomenon aimed at covering Africa in green. Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D.) also called on international partners to contribute to the continued success and reach of the Green Legacy initiative.
In a statement issued on the announcement of the launching of this year’s Green Legacy program, Prime Minister Abiy said Ethiopia is laying the foundation for multidimensional prosperity by leaving a climate-smart generational legacy.
He said the energy Ethiopians harnessing these days is a key lesson to be applied to yield greater results in agricultural productivity. The government extended the 2019 challenge of planting 200 million seedlings within a 12-hour span by planting 354 million trees in 2022.
PM Abiy stated that citizens have been making by responding to each year’s Green Legacy challenge, have set a pace for the development of a green culture in Ethiopia.
A target of planting 20 billion seedlings within a period of four years was set, the premier stated. “By the third year, we have succeeded in planting close to 18 billion seedlings by mobilizing more than 20 million citizens throughout the nation.”
The premier expressed his ambition that the Green Legacy initiative will bring about clear outcomes including combating the impacts of climate change, restoring degraded landscapes, promoting a green culture and ecotourism as well as improving the livelihoods of citizens.
“While literally sowing the seeds today, we have no doubt these seeds will bear fruit across generations and contribute to reducing carbon emissions, decreasing water, and air pollution, increasing rains in dry areas, and preventing flooding and landslides,” Abiy stressed.
Ethiopia as a nation has achieved numerous gains through the Green Legacy initiative and millions participate in planting every year. The expansion of nursery sites throughout the country has created jobs for citizens too.
“Achieving this year’s planned target will catapult us way above the four-year goal of planting 20 billion seedlings,” Premier Abiy said in the statement. He also calls on Ethiopians to demonstrate perseverance for the generational cause.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 10 AUGUST 2022
