Int’l financial structure needs far-reaching reform in the bid to combat climate change: MoPD Minister
Addis Ababa, September 5, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopia’s Minister of Planning and Development, Fitsum Aseffa, stated that drastic reform is needed on international financial structure in order to enable countries avert impacts of climate change.
The Minister stated this while sharing her views on climate change financing, Ethiopia’s efforts on the issue, and gaps of the international financial structure at the African Climate Conference roundtable on climate finance: “From Commitments to Action: Creating Fiscal Space for Climate Action” and “Spotlight on African financial markets – scaling up domestic private capital to accelerate Africa’s green economic transformation”, organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
Referring to the 2019 performance review of the Climate Change Resilient Green Economy Strategy by external researchers, she said that 82 billion Birr worth of projects and programs have been implemented in Ethiopia through government investment.
According to the study, most of the budget for climate change mitigation and adaptation comes from the government, the Minister noted, acknowledging that the remaining financing was covered by international partners’ support. However, she stated that the support invested on climate change by private stakeholders was minimal.
Realizing that climate change is a major threat to development and the existence of the society, the Ethiopian government has designed and implemented the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and Long Term Low Emission and Climate Resilient Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) which is effective until 2050 to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the country, Fitsum reminded.
Amongst these strategies, the Green Legacy initiative is a practical example, she said, noting that in the first phase alone, Ethiopia has planted some 25 billion of forest, fodder and edible fruit species to avert the chronic impacts of climate change. Besides to curbing the impacts of climate change, the Green Legacy initiative is designed to support the country’s efforts of ensuring food security.
Stating that Green Legacy program is the backbone of the country’s economy, water and energy resources, the Minister mentioned that it is also a legacy that benefits neighboring countries which also needs the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders.
However, the international financial structure and its nature hinders the efforts of countries to tackle climate change and forces them to stay in the cycle of debt, the Minister said, stressing the need for a comprehensive reform in the global financial structure.
As the president of African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) for the next two years, Fitsum asserted that the decisions of the 19th AMCEN ordinary session, which was held in Addis Ababa from August 14 to 18/2023, should be included in the soon-to-be Nairobi Declaration, the potential outcome of the ongoing African Climate Summit in the Kenyan capital. She also emphasized that those decisions should be considered as stances of African countries at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 28) which will be held from November 30 until December 12, 2023 in Dubai.
It is learned that the African Climate Summit will continue to deliberate on various agendas at the level of the leaders of African countries in Nairobi, Kenya.