by: Ethiopia

For Ethiopia, green growth is a necessity as well as an opportunity to be seized. It is an opportunity to realize our country?s huge potential in renewable energy and a necessity so as to arrest agro-ecological degradation that threatens to trap millions of our citizens in poverty.

We have therefore embarked upon the development of a Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy addressing both climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives. We have now completed the preparation of the green economy strategy, which will be fully integrated into our five-year Growth and Transformation Plan. Our goal is quickly to improve the living conditions of our people by reaching a middle-income status by 2025 based on carbon-neutral growth. We are committed to effectively transforming Ethiopia into an early adopter of a low-carbon growth path by 2013, and our CRGE initiatives are already being translated into investment-ready projects in the four key sectors.

One important green resource that will help us reach our goals is hydroelectric power. We plan to increase our generation capacity fivefold over the next five years to support green growth at home and potentially export to neighbouring countries, both as a source of income and as a concrete contribution to development and sustainability in Eastern Africa. 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. At the same time, carbon finance could play an increasingly important role in the global economy and one that Ethiopia and its neighbours can benefit from.

The positive impact of sustainable development on health, social justice, economic growth, and natural resource conservation is significant. There are enormous untapped opportunities for action on climate change in Ethiopia and, for that matter, Africa as a whole that we can now begin to seize with international support on financing, infrastructure, and execution capacity. Our country is well positioned and moving fast to contribute to developing a green global economy, the environmental legacy and commercial benefits of which will endure long into the future.

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