Ethiopia and the European Union signed a financing agreement amounting to €36 million (1.17 billion birr). The agreement is part of the climate change budget supporting program, report reveals.
The grant will support Ethiopia "grow greener" by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. The program also focuses on the mitigation of the impact of climate change and reduction of greenhouse gas emission and livelihood assistance through directly supporting the government structures.
The Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in collaboration with regional states, will be the main actors implementing the project.
Neven Mimica, EU's Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, remarked "Environmental sustainability and climate action are critical to achieving Ethiopia's ambitious growth and development objectives."
"The EU's €36 million contribution will help two key sectors – forestry and industry – to become more sustainable and mitigate the consequences of climate change," he said.
The bulk of the finance will, consequently, be channeled through the Ethiopian government aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from forests and industries. Three million of the 36 will be used to enhance the Ethiopia's measurement, reporting and verification systems, making them complaint with Paris agreement standards, it was pointed out.
Ahmed Shide, Ethiopia's Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation, said the support will help increase support for government climate change mitigation systems.
This project is aimed at supporting the effort of transforming the economic structure towards climate resilient green economy in the coming three years, he further noted.
The EU's development portfolio supports Ethiopia's national strategy, above all in food security and agriculture, health, infrastructure (including energy, roads and climate change) and governance.
In a related development, Neven Mimica, EU's Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, has also met and held talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. During their meeting, lauding the strong Ethiopia - EU tie, Mr. Mimica reconfirmed EU's support to Ethiopia and to Prime Minister Abiy "for continuing to drive the reforms unabated."
Sources: ENA; Twitter pages of Neven Mimica, Office of the Prime Minister - Ethiopia
Image Source: Twitter page of the Office of the Prime Minister - Ethiopia
