Paris Agreement: France and the Global Green Growth Institute to support the development of Ethiopia’s Long-Term Low Emission and Resilient Development Strategy

The strategy, which will be elaborated under the umbrella of the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission (EFCCC) of the Government of Ethiopia, will be presented to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2022. This is the country’s response to the Paris Agreement’s invitation to the Parties to strive to formulate and communicate such strategies, taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances. 

Ethiopia is vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and variability, due to its unpredictability and the country’s lack of adaptive capacity. Most of climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water and energy are vulnerable to such climate-related shocks. In 2015, in the frame of the Paris Agreement, the Government of Ethiopia took the initiative to release an ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) towards reducing its Green House Gas emission by 64%, compared to the business-as-usual scenario, by 2030. This NDC, which Ethiopia has been working on to revise for publication in 2021, will serve as a baseline scenario for emission reduction for the expected long-term low emission and resilient development strategy. The development of long-term strategies allows for the exploration of different decarbonation scenarios at the country level, helping to guide shorter-term decisions, including revised NDC targets. LT-LEDS is thus an opportunity for the Government to anticipate the budgetary and financial costs of their actions and to define policy reforms and priority investments to ensure a resilient, low-carbon future. 

During the first One Planet Summit organised in Paris (December 2017), AFD committed to align its financial flows to the Paris Agreement by contributing to the establishment of low carbon and resilient trajectories.

In order to help countries finance the Paris Agreement, AFD has established the “2050 Facility” which aims at supporting the development of long-term low-carbon and climate-resilient development strategies and accompanying the governance of low-carbon and resilient planning through stakeholder’s dialogue and capacity-building actions. The establishment of this long-term strategy is financed through this facility. 

The GGGI, an international Think Tank dedicated to supporting sustainable and inclusive development in developing countries, has been accompanying Ethiopia in its climate agenda since early days. In line with this, they committed to continue this support, at the request of the EFCCC.

“Today’s event illustrates our will of developing partnership with the government in reaching the objectives of the Paris Agreement. I am convinced that international cooperation and sharing of experience and expertise is the only way to tackle the global challenge that is climate change, and I am happy that Ethiopia and France are collaborating in this direction.” said H.E. Mr. Rémi Maréchaux, Ambassador of France to Ethiopia.

According to Ms. Valérie Tehio, AFD Ethiopia Country Director, “AFD has supported Ethiopia’s efforts to develop sustainable energy and more climate resilient projects since 1997 and its first interventions in the country. I am convinced that it is now time to look further and on a broader scale with the view of jointly tackling climate change and ensuring a strong development for the economy and the people of Ethiopia.” 

Media contact: AFD : Bérénice Oreyo-Pierronnet