Green Growth Necessity, Opportunity for Ethiopia: Commission

Addis Ababa February 25/02019 Green growth is a necessity and an opportunity for Ethiopia to seize, according to Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission.  

In his opening remark to a two-day workshop that focuses on the opportunities, Wordy Hashim, Director-General of Resource Mobilization and Projects Administration at the Commission said “this is the reason why Ethiopia developed and launched Climate Resilience Green Economy (CRGE) strategy in 2011.”

A two-day workshop that focuses on opportunities in the framework of Italian environmental cooperation activities in the Horn of Africa kicked off here today.

According to Wordy, “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.”

As one of the rapidly urbanizing countries, Ethiopia has identified the essentiality of implementing effective waste management to realize its green growth strategy, he pointed out.  

The director-general revealed that the government, with the aim of supporting the private sector, has been providing them with the necessary support and incentives so that they can participate in the development of the country’s energy resources, sustainable water resources development and integrated waste management.

Africa and Europe Green Growth Planning and Implementation Programs Head, Dexippos Agourides appreciated the government’s commitment to green growth and pursuing a comprehensive set of development objectives through the consecutive Growth and Transformation Plan and CRGE.

Agourides said private sector plays important role in enabling green growth in developing countries like Ethiopia. “There is a need for a sound policy framework and incentive mechanisms for effective private sector engagement in supporting environment and development outcomes.”

Bruna Kohan of the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea expressed Italy’s commitment to collaborate with Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti in strengthening institutional capacity.

She said sustainable development, promoting renewable energy, sustainable water management, efficient weather forecast alert systems, rural development, and climate smart agriculture are the collaboration areas with the countries.

Italy has approved 11 projects for a total amount of 11 million Euros. Of those, five are in Ethiopia, 3 in Sudan and the remaining 3 in Djibouti, it was learned.

More than 10 Italian companies are taking part in the workshop to explore the business opportunities, especially in renewable energy, integrated waste management, and water development.