Sunday, November 10, 2013

United Kingdom finances Ethiopia’s green economy program

By New Business Ethiopia.

United Kingdom’s aid agency DFID Ethiopia is set to finance 15 Million pounds to support Ethiopia’s government ambition plan to build a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) by 2025.

These funds are committed to the CRGE Facility, and will be used to support the implementation of the Sector Reduction Mechanisms process: to generate and fund high quality strategic investments that respond to the priorities of the Government of Ethiopia.

The ministry of finance and economic development of Ethiopia and DFID Ethiopia will sign the agreement this morning (November 8, 2013) in Addis Ababa.

The finance will be used to support the Government of Ethiopia to build a Climate Resilient Green Economy across different sectors. “This transformative approach developed by the Government of Ethiopia will provide a clear example of green economic transformation, not only in Africa but across the world,” the ministry said in its press statement," the ministry said in its statement.

“Ethiopia is one of the world’s fastest growing countries. At the same time, it is highly vulnerable to climatic variability and extremes. Ethiopia has the ambition to become a middle-income country by 2025, but will not follow a traditional development pathway–characterized by carbon intensification, inequitable development and serious environmental degradation.”

"Ethiopia is committed to building a climate resilient green economy. This commitment means that growth in Ethiopia is better for all, able to withstand the shocks and stresses and contributes to the imperative global goal of dramatic and sustained declines in emissions and a successful de-coupling of economic growth from emissions, the ministry further stated."

Ethiopia will eradicate poverty and provide adequate services to our population, and achieve our economic ambitions with zero net growth in Green House Gas emissions, where it is supported to do so, the ministry noted.

Investment Areas

Over sixty priorities for investment have been identified that will enable Ethiopia to both grow its economy while minimizing emissions. In addition, climate resilience strategies are being finalized to identify the costs of climate change and prioritize investments to reduce vulnerability.

To help Ethiopia secure additional investment, from both public and private sources, and to help leverage and manage these resources, the Ethiopian Government has established the CRGE Facility. The CRGE Facility will allow Ethiopia to aggregate resources from a range of sources and deploy it in strategically and effectively.

Funds are pooled within the Facility and programmed out to government led strategic priorities. These investments are designed to be catalytic and to leverage the impact of limited public funds on broader development investments.

The Sector Reduction Mechanism (SRM) is the government process for implementing the CRGE. The SRM does two things. It is expected to help Ethiopia to leverage finance by packaging up financing opportunities into Sector Reduction Action Plans (SRAPs).

While it is anticipated to systematically builds the Ethiopian Government’s capacity to plan and implement a transformation to a Climate Resilient Green Economy.

United Kingdom finances Ethiopia’s green economy program