Addis Ababa, September 6, 2024 (FBC) – Mr. Seyoum Mekonen, Ethiopia’s State Minister for Planning and Development, met with Ms. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP and Mr. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UNFCCC on the sidelines of the 10th Special Session of AMCEN which is being held in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire from 5-6 September 2024.
On the occasion, Mr. Seyoum emphasized Ethiopia’s unwavering commitment for climate and environment policy and actions across sectors.
He further explained the innovative action where the Government of Ethiopia has been strategically addressing the issue of climate change and environment by restructuring these issues under the Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD) for a robust mainstreaming of these matters into the National Development Planning (NDP) process.
The State Minister highlighted the practical climate actions where the government and people of Ethiopia are undertaking to address the pressing challenges of the climate change through Green Legacy initiative where the initiative managed to plant about 32.5 billion seedlings (as of 2023) that have both ecological as well as food and fodder trees and grasses.
According to him, the initiative entertained an incredible achievement of increasing the forest cover of Ethiopia from 17.2% in 2017 to 23.6% in 2023.
The initiative has also improved the food system transformation in Ethiopia through Bounty of the Basker initiative that focused on promoting food sovereignty as package of the Green Legacy Initiative.
Mr. Seyoum stressed the importance of the UN agencies for the delivery of the national environmental and climate policies and strategies.
Ms. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, praised Ethiopia’s remarkable leadership in environmental and climate initiatives, particularly highlighting the renowned Green Legacy program.
She expressed her UNEP’s interest in aligning this initiative with the recently announced UN Decade of Ecological Restoration, led by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Inspired by Ethiopia’s multifaceted leadership in environmental issues, she expressed a desire to collaborate with Ethiopia to enhance UNEP’s effectiveness.
“COP29 must establish ambitious, quantifiable climate finance goals that are accessible to countries with limited capacity, including those in Africa and least developed countries like Ethiopia,”
In the discussion with Mr. Simon Stiel, Mr. Seyoum highlighted Ethiopia’s priorities for COP29 to the UNFCCC. He further noted, “As the chair of AMCEN, Ethiopia aims to unify the region’s voice, ensuring it is heard [at global fora].”
Mr. Simon Stiell, on his part appreciated Ethiopia’s ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) while commending the Government of Ethiopia’s plan to submit the 3rd generation NDC (NDC3.0).
He expressed his commitment for mobilizing the financial resources to Ethiopia for achieving its development endeavors and submission of Ethiopia’s NDC having the whole of society being applied.
Mr. Simon shared his commitment for having a New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Change (NCQG) with his hope that the divergences on the sources of finance and the quality of it.
The two parties agreed to continue their bilateral consultation towards a shared interests in the time to come.