BY SOLOMON DIBABA
Why is Ethiopia seriously focusing on climate diplomacy as an important component of its diplomatic activities? Several answers could be given for this but the main point is Ethiopia cannot withstand the effects of climate change in standalone mode as the issue is not limited to the country but has huge global dimensions. On the other hand without multi-lateral support and coordination, the country cannot fully finance its climate change programs at least for the forth coming several decades.
Besides, over the last 50 years and probably beyond, Ethiopia suffered from climate change induced drought which seriously affected the country’s agriculture and plunged her into a vicious circle of food insecurity. On the other hand, the lion’s share of the country’s GDP comes from the agriculture sector.
As one of the strategies to realize its climate change prevention and adaptation works Ethiopia strengthens its climate diplomacy. Most scholars agree that there is no comprehensive definition for climate diplomacy acceptable to all. The author of this article therefore chose to take a sample definition adapted by AU in 2008 which reads.
“Climate diplomacy encompasses the use of diplomatic tools to support the ambition and functioning of the international climate change regime and to attenuate the negative impacts climate change risks pose for peace, stability and prosperity. Furthermore, climate diplomacy entails using the issue of climate change for furthering other foreign policy objectives such as confidence- and peace-building or strengthening multilateralism.
Climate diplomacy calls for preparing appropriate risk assessment and risk management strategies at a global strategic level. “Climate diplomacy also means prioritizing climate action with partners worldwide in diplomatic dialogues, public diplomacy and external policy instruments. This includes reaching out to partner countries bilaterally and making the case for more ambitious climate action.”
This definition stresses on the use of climate diplomacy as a tool for peace building and multi-lateral approach as a strategy for conducting this modern area of diplomacy that is also an additive to the conduct of foreign policy and diplomacy in modern international relations. Ethiopia has huge potentials in successfully blending domestic climate change mitigation efforts with her climate diplomacy initiatives in the context of multi-lateral undertakings.
In Ethiopia, the issue of climate and climate diplomacy started to gain currency with the initiatives taken by the late Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi in 2009 as a major national departure from fossil fuel based development to a climate change resilient sustainable development. Climate diplomacy was accentuated in the first national climate change conference which took place on January 15, 2009, and was attended by high level government officials, CSOs, UN, bilateral and multilateral organizations, as well as the private sector.
The conference culminated in the creation of the Climate Change Forum-Ethiopia (CCF-E) in order to ensure a coordinated effort in addressing climate change. The conference also helped in bringing different actors together and aligning Ethiopia with regional and global movements. Former P.M. Meles also proposed having a strategy that would guide the country to follow a green development path. This resulted in the formulation of a national Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy (CRGES) IN 2011, with its vision of making Ethiopia middle-income country with a carbon neutral economy by 2025.
Moreover, at the regional level, Meles masterminded the establishment of The Conference of African Heads of State on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) in 2009 by the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government meeting, held 1-3 July 2009 in Sirte, Libya. The CAHOSCC started its work in earnest during COP15 held in Copenhagen, Denmark and continued through to COP21. There were ten member states at the establishment including: Algeria, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, and South Africa, plus the chairperson of the African Union.
The first CAHOSCC meeting resolved that Ethiopia should lead CAHOSCC. Hence, Meles Zenawi led the CAHOSCC for two terms from COP15 to COP17—which were held in Copenhagen, Cancun and Durban respectively. Most climate change related meetings held in Ethiopia are also done in close collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia.
For instance, Ethiopia has been working closely with the African Union member states since the establishment of CAHOSCC, , and also working closely with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)-African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) in the preparation for annual conferences on Climate Change and Development in Africa.
The African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) has been established to serve as a center for knowledge generation on climate change in Africa. Ethiopia was also chosen to chair the deliberations of the 20 less developed countries with the highest vulnerability rate to the effects of climate change.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 17 MAY 2023
