The Borneo Post

Ethiopia’s struggle against climate change gets a boost from green climate fund

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ADDIS ABABA: Faced with worsening droughts due to climate change, Ethiopia is joining an internatio­nal initiative seeking to build global resilience against the problems caused by it, and enable developing countries to become part of a united solution to the ongoing problem.

Funded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC), the Global Climate Fund (GCF) was establishe­d to help developing countries achieve national efforts to reduce national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to the unavoidabl­e impacts of climate change.

The GCF is part of a united global response fuelled by the urgency and seriousnes­s of the climate change challenge.

That clarion call gained momentum worldwide after the 2015 Paris Agreement in which signatorie­s agreed to collective­ly tackle climate change through the mechanism of implementi­ng nationally determined contributi­ons ( NDC), a country’s tailored efforts to reduce its emissions and enable it to adapt to climate change-induced challenges.

Ethiopia is taking this multilater­al global endeavour particular­ly seriously due to the massive changes the country is undergoing as it develops economical­ly.

“Ethiopia is one of the few countries that have submitted a very ambitious and conditiona­l NDC to the UNFCCC,” says Zerihun Getu with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperatio­n. “Ethiopia aims to cut 64 per cent of emissions by 2030 and build a climate resilient and middleinco­me economy.”

Currently Ethiopia has a relatively low carbon footprint compared to many other countries, having not industrial­ised, but Zerihun notes why it is important to take action now.

“Projection­s indicate that with population and economic growth, Ethiopia’s level of emissions will grow significan­tly, from 150 million tonnes in 2010 to 450 million by 2030,” Zerihun tells IPS.

“Hence Ethiopia should focus both on mitigation and adaptation measures in order to reduce emission as well as build resilience and reduce vulnerabil­ity to the impacts of climate change.”

Approved in October 2017, Ethiopia’s GCF-backed project will be implemente­d over the course of five years at a cost of US$ 50 million — with US$ 5 million co-financed by the government — to provide rural communitie­s with critical water supplies all year round and improve water management systems to address risks of drought and other problems from climate change. The funding will go toward a three-pronged approach: Introducin­g solar-powered water pumping and small- scale irrigation, the rehabilita­tion and management of degraded lands around the water sources, and creating an enabling environmen­t by raising awareness and improving local capacity.

Guidance on the project’s implementa­tion is coming from the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), a treaty-based internatio­nal organisati­on that promotes green growth: a balance of economic growth and environmen­tal sustainabi­lity.

Climate change has a disproport­ionately worse impact on the lives and livelihood­s of societies which depend on the natural environmen­t for their day-to- day needs.

In Ethiopia, about 80 per cent of the population remain dependent on agricultur­e for their livelihood­s.—

 ??  ?? Women living in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which is particular­ly prone to drought, say how hard it is to live off the land and support their families. — IPS photo by Ph James Jeffrey
Women living in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which is particular­ly prone to drought, say how hard it is to live off the land and support their families. — IPS photo by Ph James Jeffrey

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