Ethiopia, Gambia Proceeding Well Against Climate Change
- Alison Durkee
- Apr 22, 2017
- 1 min read
A 2016 study revealed Ethiopia might actually be the rare country to reap some benefits from climate change, as the rising tides could make water more available in the country's Blue Nile Basin. But global warming also holds disastrous results for the developing nation: Chronic droughts already sparked a humanitarian crisis in early 2016, Climate Change News reported. And climate change could put the country's agrarian economy and coffee exports — which are projected to be worth $1.6 billion by 2025 — at risk.
As a result, Ethiopia is taking the threat of climate change seriously. In 2011, the country established the Climate Resilient Green Economy to address climate change, which is the first such program of its kind in Africa. The CRGE's vision, the Africa Climate Change Resilience Alliance said, is to "build a middle-income climate resilient green economy by 2025 ... through zero net carbon growth."
The country is working to develop renewable-energy sources by tapping into its vast water resources, Hydropower.org noted, and has been investing in hydropowerdevelopment projects, which produce energy through water stored in dams. Over 80% of the electricity currently produced in Ethiopia is hydropower energy, Hydropower noted, and the country's vast hydropower infrastructure allows it to supply energy to the surrounding region.
NASA