ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's green growth development project has received approval at the Global Green Growth Week, which is underway in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia's green growth development project, which was approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as exemplary model at the Global Green Growth Week, aims to drill boreholes and install small-scale irrigation schemes across the 9 regional states, by combining 45 million U.S. dollars from GCF and 5 million U.S. dollars from the Ethiopian government.
The project proposal, which was developed by the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation in partnership with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate, has been supported by the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) during its initiation.
The approved project is expected to enhance access to water and rehabilitate approximately 7,900 hectares of degraded land and would benefit 330,000 Ethiopians directly and 990,000 indirectly, it was noted.
Admasu Nebebe, Ethiopian State Minister of Economic Cooperation, said at the Green Growth Week meeting that the approval is a huge boost to Ethiopia's efforts. He also called for Ethiopian ministries and regions to work closely in developing bankable projects and mobilizing resources from climate funds.
Robert Mukiza, Deputy Director and Country Representative for GGGI, applauded GCF's approval of the project saying that "this is a major milestone in our efforts to support Ethiopia to achieve the bold ambitions set out in the Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy and the Second five-year Growth and Transformation Plan."
"GGGI will deepen its support in developing bankable projects to achieve the green transformation trajectory that Ethiopia is committed to. We thank the government of Ethiopia for the steadfast support provided to GGGI," Mukiza added.
Kare Chawicha, Ethiopian State Minister of Environment and Climate Change, also said that even though Ethiopia's contribution to the problem of climate change is negligible, the east African country had in 2011 taken an exemplary decision to build a climate-resilient green middle-income economy by 2025. The ambition is said to require more than 200 billion U.S. dollars over a period of 15 years.
GGGI has been supporting Ethiopia's green growth efforts since 2010, helping the country develop the Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy and integrate it into the 5-year national Growth and Transformation Plan, it was indicated.
Policy makers and experts, who have gathered in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa as part of the Global Green Growth Week 2017, emphasized the need to unlock Africa's green growth potential.
The four-day Global Green Growth Week 2017, held since Tuesday under the theme "Unlocking Africa's Green Growth Potential," has brought together over 500 ministers, investors and decision makers, among others, to catalyze creative solutions for transformational green growth in the African continent.
The event particularly revolved around achieving nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement and making progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Participants of the event have discussed on various issues that include mobilizing green/climate finance to bankable projects in developing countries; sustainably managing resources to address water and food security challenges; and developing and adopting policies that drive environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive economic growth.
