Ethiopian Climate Change Sector Reform Performance Contract

In 2023, 20 million Ethiopians experienced food insecurity due to drought, while over 250,000 are affected by floods. Ethiopia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, experiencing the adverse effects of droughts, floods, and land degradation. Large-scale deforestation intensifies climate change by increasing carbon dioxide levels and raising temperatures. Notably, carbon dioxide released from cement factories, one of the largest and fastest growing industries, also contributes to this environmental issue.

In response, Ethiopia has been actively promoting sustainable development and low-carbon growth through its Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) Strategy since 2011. Despite efforts to advance sustainable forest management, the forest sector remains a significant contributor to Green House Gas emissions (GHG) at 37%. Additionally, outdated technologies in seven of 14 cement factories further intensify GHG emissions.

To address these challenges, the Ethiopian government launched the Climate Change Sector Reform Performance Contract (CCSRPC) project in 2019. Funded by the European Union (EU), this project aims to support the implementation of the CRGE strategy by reducing GHG emissions from deforestation and the cement industry. Through training, policy dialogue and exchanges on forest preservation, land use monitoring and energy efficiency in the industrial sector, the project enhances the capacity of stakeholders implementing climate change mitigation actions. 

Assisting forest-based climate mitigation measures

The CCSRPC project focused on increasing forest coverage in Ethiopia by efficiently developing, protecting and preserving forests. With financial and technical assistance from the EU, the project supported the Ethiopian Forest Development Institute to sustainably manage existing forests, plant new forests and restore deforested and degraded lands. More specifically, the project improved the capacity of stakeholders in sustainable forest management to support the country in achieving its climate change mitigation goals. 

In 2020, the Ethiopian Forest Development Institute prepared a three-year plan to protect and conserve forests in 29 woredas (districts) spread across ten regional states and two city administrations. The target was to decrease annual deforestation from 72,000 hectares in 2013 to 47,000 hectares in 2021; this goal was surpassed with a successful reduction to 11,632 hectares per year. Similarly, the plan to decrease annual emissions from 13.1 megatons of carbon dioxide in 2013 to 9.51 by 2021 was exceeded, with net emissions reduced to 2.56 megatons of carbon dioxide. 

The project also actively supported increasing forest coverage through Ethiopia's green legacy tree planting initiatives. This extensive afforestation effort included developing tree nurseries, fencing off new forest areas, and involving communities in forest care.

Supporting forest GHG emission measurement

The Ethiopian government announced plans to reinforce its measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from its forest sector through the CCSRPC project. The initiative aimed at improving the accuracy and reliability of data collected on the country's forest cover and carbon sequestration. It involves the use of advanced remote sensing technologies and adhering to international standards for land use classification.

The National Forest Inventory (NFI) directorate in Ethiopia has been receiving regular support through the technical assistance of Stantec experts to sustain the adoption and use of improved datasets and methodologies for forest sector monitoring and reporting. The support also involved two consecutive GHG monitoring exercises performed with NFI. As a result of this support, the country is now using new and better datasets for monitoring Ethiopian forest cover change. The use of high-resolution satellite data has become a norm, demonstrated through the application of Sentinel-2 data blending with Planet NICFI. In addition, more efficient and accurate assessments of forest cover change are now possible by using digital tools such as SEPAL and Collect Earth Online (CEO).

The CCSRPC project also works to reinforce the collaboration with the Ethiopian Geospatial Information Institute (GII), now known as the Space Science and Geospatial Institute (SSGI), to generate land use data in alignment with guidelines on national GHG accounting: IPCC 2006. This allows for the reporting of emissions from the forest sector in accordance with international standards.

Through the CCSRPC technical assistance, the project works to improve the quality and accuracy of data on forest-related emissions in Ethiopia. This allows the country to effectively track its progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

Implemented since 2020 by a consortium led by Stantec, the EU-funded Climate Change Sector Reform Performance project played a key role in boosting Ethiopia's climate change efforts. It supported forestry, cleaner industry practices and alignment with international climate commitments.