For Ethiopia, green growth is a necessity as well as an opportunity to be seized. It is an opportunity to realize its huge potential in renewable energy. The nation therefore has embarked upon the development of a ClimateResilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy addressing both climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives. Against this background exists the situation where the soundness of the earth’s ecosystem, the very basis of humankind’s existence, is being threatened by various factors including massive consumption of resources accompanied by massive discharge of wastes in developed countries, and increasing pressures on natural resources in developing countries due to the growing demand for food and poverty caused by rapid population growth.
There is a growing need to reconsider values that place too much emphasis on the pursuit of material wealth, and the prevailing socioeconomic activities and lifestyles marked by mass-production, massconsumption and mass-disposal. The urgent and serious challenge for humanity is to build a society on a global scale that ensures sustainable development with fewer loads on the environment, while maintaining the environment in a healthy state. Countries of the entire world are facing a number of tragic choices during their transition from agricultural, natural resource-based primary production economies to industrialized and service-based economies.
They face choices because of accelerated growth rates necessary for generating resources for the transition may be based on more intensive extraction of natural resources for exports or alternatively, may await the development of skills, capabilities, and institutions that would enable higher growth with lower rates of damage to pristine environmental resources. Such choices may be tragic because, while the latter path would inevitably mean that initial growth rates would be slower, the former would ensure that excessive, permanent loss of environmental resources, which may adversely affect prospects for future wellbeing, would necessarily occur.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopia Herald experts said that nations’ environment policy should be harmonized in all line with all target areas for better outcome as well pave ways to materialize lasting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dr. Adefris Worku, Researcher at Ethiopian Environment and Forest Research Institute Climate Science Research Directorate noted that almost the Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy (CRGE) and line ministries such as the agriculture, environment and climate and forestry commissions and urban housing and construction as well as water and energy, transport and industry and others had fantastic policies but when checked it is learnt harmonizing activities should be put in place that could help make sure lasting impacts on efforts building resilient communities.
According to Adefris’ view and some studies of international institute for sustainable development based in UK, there is still overlap between different policies of line ministries. Ministry of Agriculture still claims to expand several million hectare in the coming many years, those new areas that they want to expand the agriculture practices most are fall either forest land. In short, Ministry of Agriculture is planning to widen 70 percent arable land mass which is a huge land mass where the forestation is down played in the same country. The forest coverage currently stands at 15 per cent but Ethiopia has promised to itself and the international communities through its CRGE to grow it to 20 per cent by 2020, while 22 million hectares of degraded land is expected to be rehabilitated by 2030.
Fifteen million hectares of land make the forest sector contribute to the national growth from 4 to 8 per cent by 2030. Ethiopia has made responsibility for environmental policy making in than ever before in forestry sector but still the CRGE and line ministries should make readiness in reconciling the lie on top contents. National REDD+ Director Dr. Yitebitu Moges at Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, for his part seconds Dr. Adefris’ stance and keep on saying policy harmony is not yet happening the ministries, specially the agriculture investment along with the green economy of nation has mismatch in practice.
“We know the small holder agriculture is more complicated to control and the impact is so minimal as compared to the huge investment on agriculture that is in the hand of the public but lands are transferred without due inspection of environment impact assessment.” According to him, Ethiopia is committed to achieve the ambitious economic growth targets of the countries. This commitment is detailed in the country’s Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP II), as well the progress recorded is promising because of the overlap in the case of practices. He further noted that a comprehensive study was published by Ethiopia’s REDD+ secretariat three years ago that analyzes the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.
The study found deforestation and forest degradation to be driven mainly by free livestock grazing, fodder use and fuel wood collection/charcoal production in all the regions followed by farmland expansion, land fires and cutting wood for construction purpose. Ethiopia has the natural resources to generate all the clean energy it needs and to decouple its economy from the fluctuating prices and unsustainable nature of the oil-based economy. At the same time, carbon finance could play an increasingly important role in the global economy and one that Ethiopia and its neighbours can benefit from.
The positive impact of sustainable development on health, social justice, economic growth, and natural resource conservation is significant. There are enormous untapped opportunities for action on climate change in Ethiopia and, for that matter, Africa as a whole that we can now begin to seize with international support on financing, infrastructure, and execution capacity. Ethiopia is well positioned and moving fast to contribute to developing a green global economy, the environmental legacy and commercial benefits of which will endure long into the future.
The Ethiopian Herald May 21/ 2019
BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
