CLIMATE BULLETIN

CONTACT USFor any information on updates, articles, events or comments:

edenm@ecsncc.orgmahlete@ecsncc.orgPhone: +2511 552 1662 Fax: +251 1 552 1034P.o.Box: 10386

ECSNCC Ethiopian Civil Society Net-

work on Climate Change

Vol. 3, Issue 02

Hosted by Forum for Environment

The Climate Bulletin is a monthly newsletter focus-

ing on climate change

April Issue, 2012

Climate Events...............................2

Members Profile...........................8

Durban Update...........................9

Climate Change in the News..10

Research Corner.....................11

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Continued to page 2

National Mother Earth Day Commemoration, 2012 By Messay Sintayehu

Mother Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide. For over 40 years, Mother

Earth Day (April 22) has been a valuable tool for inspiring and mobilizing citizens and or-ganizations to demonstrate their commit-ment to environmental protection and sus-tainability. We are constantly surrounded by environmental challenges as our daily actions contaminate and degrade the fragile environ-ment that humans and wildlife rely upon to survive.

Worldwide this year’s Mother Earth Day theme is “Mobilize the Earth”. The theme was designed to provide people with the oppor-tunity to unite their voices in a call for a sus-tainable future and direct them toward quantifi able outcomes. The theme will also act as a launch pad for growing the environmental movement and will put forth a bold declaration demanding immediate action to secure Renewable Energy for All and a Sustainable Future for Our Planet. 

Nationally, Mother Earth Day is celebrated successively for the last three years dealing on various pertinent issues. For the last three years, four organizations [Forum for Environment; Climate Change Forum; Population Health Environment Ethiopia; Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre] have joined hands in organizing high level meetings, fi eld visits and press conferences.

In this year too, 2012, the Mother Earth Day organizers, mentioned earlier, with an additional partnership of FARM Africa-SOS Sahel, organized two days national workshop on April 24 and 25 at Ghion Hotel to link the undertakings of the Ethiopian government, Civil Society, Researchers and the communities in re-greening initiatives. Accordingly, the theme of the workshop was “Re-greening for Food Security, adaptation to Climate Change & Poverty Re-duction.” The workshop was in line with the Great Green Wall Initiative that is well accepted and endorsed both by the governments of Sub Saharan African countries including Ethiopia

H.E. Sileshi Getahun, State Minis-ter of Ministry of Agriculture

Vol. 3, Issue 022

April Issue, 2012

Climate EventsClimate Cartoon Earth Day Celebration At The US EmbassyBy

Bezawit Wondwossen

A one day panel discussion and fi eld work on April 21, 2012 was co-organized by the US Embassy, Addis Aba-ba Environmental Protection Authority and Tena Ke-

bena Youth Association. More than eighty students from dif-ferent high schools participated on this event. The opening speech was given by Mr. Robert Post, Public Aff airs Offi cer at the US Embassy briefi ng the participants about the his-tory of the earth day. After the opening, the National Green Volunteer Service (NGVS) documentary fi lm, which was pro-duced by Forum for Environment (FfE), was screened. The documentary fi lm that was screened motivated the students to participate in the 2012 NGVS. Six panelists from FfE, Tena Kebena Youth Association and from 2011 NGVS participants addressed questions from participants. Most questions re-volved around the future plan of the organizers to continue the NGVS. FfE briefed the objectives and goal of the NGVS and announced that the 2012 NGVS will be starting on July 10, 2012 at SNNPR. Furthermore it is stated that application forms will be distributed to their schools as of May 2012. Previous participants of NGVS also briefed the benefi ts they have got from the program.

In the after-noon the s t u d e n t s t o g e t h e r with the US E m b a s s y staff vol-u n t e e r e d in the fi eld work at the Millennium Park. Am-b a s s a d o r Donald E Booth, US a m b a s -sador in

and the Civil Societies. It also identifi ed a platform to strengthen and scale up the best practices of integrated rehabilitation and re-greening programs in diff erent parts of the country to help implementing the nation’s plan to re-green 15 million hectare. The successful re-greening practices from countries like Niger and Japan in Agro-forestry were presented to materialize the Ethiopian government’s target to plant 100 million Faidher-bia albida trees. Presentations of various kinds from diff erent agro-ecological zones in Ethiopia were made on re-greening successes which all depicted the tools & techniques for scaling up. The workshop also entertained renowned panelists on the following topics: How to sustain and scale-up the current re-greening initiatives; Climate Resilient Green Growth strategy of Ethiopia (CRGE); Population, food security and climate change; Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and current initiative of the Ethiopian government; REDD+ and Rio+20 preparations.

Moreover, this year’s Mother Earth Day commemoration is linked with 2012 World Environment Day through an Environ-ment Learning Journey. It includes Inter and Intra regional Ex-perience Exchange Visit Programs for practitioners, and policy and decision makers to the best re-greening projects in diff er-ent agro-ecological zones. Preparations are under way for its implementation

Ethiopia has given the opening speech. The volunteers dig holes for seedling plantation at the park. The 2012 Earth day celebration was closed by a closing speech from a repre-sentative of the Addis Ababa Environmental Authority and a group picture with guest of honors

National Mother Earth...Continued from page 1

Panel Discussion

Tree Planting

Vol. 3, Issue 023

April Issue, 2012

Climate EventsUpcoming Events

Continued to page 5

Enhancing The Engagement In The Carbon Market On Ethiopia

By Mahlet Tadesse

The Federal Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Ethiopia in collaboration with the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) and the African Climate Policy Center

(ACPC) organized a national workshop on April 17, 2012 at the UNECA conference center. The major objective of the workshop was to discuss issues that can enhance Ethiopia’s engagement in the carbon market initiatives. Various ex-perts from different countries were part of the event and shared their experiences on Clean Development Mecha-nisms (CDM) from different perspectives.

Mr. Jens Odlander, Ambassador of Sweden, acknowledged the Growth and Transformation Plan and Climate Resilient Green Economy of Ethiopia and advised that new invest-ment to have linkage with the concept of CDM. The Swedish government is currently supporting African countries and mentioned that Sweden wants to continue and strengthen her engagement with Ethiopia.

Dr. Tewolde-Berhan GebreEgziabher, Director General of the Federal EPA, said the workshop was very timely and ex-plained how the CRGE strategy aimed at building a carbon neutral and middle income country by 2025. While build-ing its resilience, Ethiopia will also take steps to ensure that its economy is green and sustainable. To do this, the coun-try will seize the opportunities presented by low carbon technologies and invest in green industries. According to Dr. Tewolde, evidence shows that Ethiopia’s agriculture, for-estry and energy sectors are ripe for low carbon develop-ment. By making the right investments, Ethiopia will posi-tion itself to be competitive in a carbon-constrained global economy.

Ato Wondwossen Sintayehu, EPA, briefly presented the op-portunity and threats of climate change stated in the CRGE strategy. He underlined that developing a climate resilient

green economy requires the integration of economic develop-ment, adaptation and mitigation aspects. He also mentioned the investment plan for the implementation is being prepared and a facility is established to monitor and manage the finan-cial issues of the strategy. He stressed the role that carbon fi-nance has being considered as an opportunity to overcome finance related barriers to implement the strategy.

Representatives that came from the Standard Bank, Swedish CDM and JI programme, World Bank CiDev and SustDev Car-bon shared their experiences from investors’ perspectives. The panelists mentioned that Ethiopia has a tremendous potential to benefit from CDM projects in rural electrification, renew-able energy, natural regeneration of forests, agriculture, soil carbon, biogas programmes, geothermal as well as from small and large scale hydropower plants. However, the projects need to fulfill the requirements: for instance; feasibility study, actual assessment, approvals from certain government authorities, Environmental Impact Assessment, well functioning Desig-nated National Authorities (DNA) before requesting for carbon finances. They also suggested projects to encompass specific and additional benefit to the local community.

Discussion was also made on various legal issues and the sig-nificance of creating enabling environment for carbon invest-ments. The host country domestic laws must comply with requirements imposed by CDM like that of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, establishment of DNA which plays a role of admin-istration for project approval and review. In line with this, three countries (Kenya, Brazil and Zambia) shared their experi-ences and lessons learnt in their countries’ CDM projects and from their professional assessments on carbon investments in Africa. The panelists underlined attention to be given for pre-investment costs; technical knowledge on DNA, working and effective DNA and the need for effective legal framework to encourage investments. In addition, they also mentioned that early stage project facilitation finance is quite substantial. The government should take a lead to encourage people’s involve-ment as well as to strengthen domestic financial sectors for the underling finance of project implementation.

Resilient Cities 2012: 3rd Global Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation

May 12 - 15, 2012, Bonn, GermanyWeb site: http://resilient-cit-ies.iclei.org/bonn2012/home/

National Mother Earth...

Vol. 3, Issue 024

April Issue, 2012

African Carbon Forum, 2012By Messay Sintayehu

The fourth Africa Carbon Forum was held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 18-20 April 2012. The meeting was hosted by the

Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority and jointly or-ganized by the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), United Nations Devel-opment Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Bank, UNEP Risoe Centre, Eco-nomic Commission for Africa - African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The Africa Carbon Forum is a trade fair and knowledge-sharing event focusing on carbon investments in Africa. It provides a platform for interested stakeholders to discuss the latest developments in the carbon markets, as well as to identify means by which the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Develop-ment Mechanism (CDM) and other mitigation mechanisms can be successfully applied in Africa.

The Forum is a regular event held under the Nairobi Frame-work, an initiative established in 2006 to help developing countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, to improve their participation in the CDM. This year’s event was the largest African Carbon Forum to date, with over 1000 par-ticipants attending from 80 countries, including 34 African countries. The Forum included: updates on recent develop-ments in the international carbon markets; the second com-mitment period of the Kyoto Protocol: the future of CDM in Africa, launch of the CDM loan scheme, information on chal-lenges; opportunities to dialogue with project developers and technical specialists; discussions on best practices and lessons; sessions on strategies and measures; CDM project showcases; and matchmaking and deal facilitation opportu-nities. Dr. Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, Director Gener-al, Environmental Protection Authority, Ethiopia, welcomed participants to the Forum stressing the importance of tak-

ing action on climate change by highlighting the importance of the Forum in facilitating Africa’s engagement in the carbon markets and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Six plenary sessions were convened in the Forum starting with a high level panel discussion on the Durban Platform- Post 2020 Architecture in which Ms. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, South Africa, ap-plauded the eff orts of the international community in adopt-ing the Durban Platform, stressing its importance in pushing past deadlocks. Another panel which Ethiopia was p art of was the Low Carbon Developments (LCDS) and Nationally Appro-priate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs).

PROMOTING LCDS AND NAMAS: This plenary session on LCDS and NAMAs was held on the second day morning and moderated by Kai-Uwe Schmidt from World Bank.

William Koyo Agyemang-Bonsu, UNFCCC Secretariat, recalled the positive outcomes of COP 17, which strengthened mea-suring, reporting and verifi cation (MRV) and established the NAMA Registry, allowing both developing and developed countries to make voluntary submissions of information on their mitigating actions. On the UNFCCC Secretariat’s support for supporting LCDS and NAMAs, he highlighted consultations with developing countries, analyses by a team of experts, de-velopment of certifi cation of registries, regional workshops, and preparation of a handbook to assist countries in preparing their NAMA reports.

Wondwossen Sintayehu, Environmental Protection Authority, Ethiopia, spoke of Ethiopia’s policy and development frame-work adopted in 2010 to help the country increase its green economic growth, become a middle-income country and car-bon-neutral by 2025. He highlighted the country’s low carbon potential, but noted to transform the country’s target sectors by 2025, the country will require US$150 billion. He said this will need to be gathered through, inter alia, government sup-port, renewable energy export, carbon credits and internation-al fi nancial investment.

World Renewable Energy Forum 2012

May 13 - 17, 2012, Denver, United States of AmericaWebsite: http://ases.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156&Itemid=53

World Congress on Water, Climate and EnergyMay 13 - 18, 2012,Dublin, IrelandWebsite: http://iwa-wcedub-lin.org

Climate Events

Continued to page 5

Upcoming Events

Vol. 3, Issue 025

April Issue, 2012

Climate EventsTom Morton, ClimateCare, stressed the need to decouple economic growth from GHG emissions growth in develop-ing countries. Focusing specifically on household GHG emis-sions, he stated that emissions from African and European households may in some circumstances be comparable and suggested that there is significant potential to reduce biomass emissions in Africa. He stressed the need to take a range of approaches, including promoting renewable wood lots, increasing efficiency in charcoal use and improving stoves and kitchen practices.

In the ensuing discussion, participants commented on: the roles of LCDS and NAMAs; additionality requirements; NAMA financing and the timeframe for implementation; the need to prioritize adaptation issues; the role of green economy strategies; the potential of geothermal energy de-velopment; challenges in measuring progress; the economic viability of low-carbon projects; reducing institutional and regulatory barriers to low-carbon energy development; the need to consider both programme- and project-focused op-portunities when identifying NAMAs; the role of the private sector in developing NAMAs; and the need to seize the op-portunities created by new carbon markets.

In a side event organized by the Ethiopian government and UNDP, Ethiopia launched the National Cook stove In-vestment Plan to distribute 9million cookstoves by 2015. Keynote speech was given by Mr. Wondimu Takele, State Minister of Ministry of Water and Energy, followed by pre-sentations and discussions

African Carbon...

Furthermore, participants discussed the impacts of grid emis-sion factor on CDM development in Ethiopia. Mr. Stephan Hoch, from University of Freiburg, mentioned that Ethiopia has the smallest (0.006) grid emission factor in the world. On the other hand, new CDM methodology has been developed

by the African Development Bank (AfDB) that would possibly help any cross-border power interconnection projects.

The closing remark was given by Ms Angela Churie Kallhauge from Swedish Energy Agency. She said there is an opportunity that should not be missed regarding CDM. Linking Ethiopia’s comprehensive vision and strategy with CDM will help to har-ness the country’s potential for carbon finance. Capacity build-ing at all levels, sensitizing politicians, decision makers, private sectors and other stakeholders will be essential to better ben-efit from carbon finance

Enhancing The Engagement...

Continued from page 4

Continued from page 3

Mechanisms for Handling Complaints

During its 17th Board Meeting, the Adaptation Fund Board, hav-ing considered the recommendation of the Ethics and Finance Committee, decided to:

(i) Include information on the Fund’s website about the mecha-nisms for handling complaints about accredited Implementing Entities and the possibility of communicating directly with the secretariat;

(ii) Assign one of the its staff members the task of receiving complaints related to project implementation on a temporary basis until the investigative mechanism is fully established.

Source: http://www.adaptation-fund.org Local News

Continued from page 10

UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies May 2012May 14 - 25, 2012, Bonn, GermanyWeb site: http://www.unfccc.int

38th Summit of the G8May 18 - 19, 2012, United States of America, Camp David, MarylandE-mail: Chicago G8 & NATO Host Committee Web site: http://www.chica-gog8nato.org/

Upcoming Events

8 mln Euro grant to strengthen Africa’s response to climate change

The European Union granted the ClimDev Africa initiative the sum of 8 Million Euro to support Africa’s response to climate variability and climate change by developing African policy ca-pacity.

Source: www.capitalethiopia.com May 6, 2012)

International...

Vol. 3, Issue 026

April Issue, 2012

Climate EventsUpcoming Events “Rio + 20 And Beyond: Ethiopian Civil

Society Coalition” By Mahlet Tadesse

A one day workshop on April 10, 2012 was co-orga-nized by Forum for Environment (FfE), Christian Aid (CA), Horn of Africa Regional Environmental Center

& Network (HoAREC) and Addis Ababa University College of Natural Science. The workshop aimed at contributing concrete ideas from CSOs in Ethiopia to the national and global dialogue in the run-up to UN Conference on Sustain-able Development (UNCSD) to be held in the coming June at Rio-de-Janeiro in Brazil.

The heads of FfE, Christian Aid, HoAREC gave open-ing remarks and the Vice-President of Addis Ababa U n i v e r s i t y gave a key-note address.

Preparatory Meeting for Euro-pean Youth Representatives to Rio+20May 18 - 20, 2012, Bonn, GermanyWebsite: http://rioplustwenties.org/documents/12%2004%2013%20Rio%2020%20Pre-para...

First Southern African Solar Energy ConferenceMay 21 - 23, 2012, Stellen-bosch, South AfricaWeb site: http://www.sasec.org.za/

Participants then discussed the status, issues and roles of Ethiopian government, other member states and CSOs in the preparation for RIO+20. Many participants emphasized that Ethiopia could play a crucial role as it’s the only coun-try in Africa that has a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy. According to Dr. Satish from HoAREC, the African nations and the Rio secretariats want Ethiopia to be exemplary for the rest of the countries in RIO. The two main themes in RIO are: Green Economy in the context of Pover-ty Eradication and Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development, which has to do with what the country has

already engaged in.

The experience of other organizations, regional and interna-tional networks; their initiatives and preparation for RIO+20 has also been discussed to strengthen the CSOs engagement in Ethiopia. Some of the initiatives of the Climate Action Network International (CAN-I), Earth Debates and Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) were presented by Ms. Mahlet Eyassu, FfE, Ms. Rahel…. and Dr. Habtemariam Abate, SLUF respectively. In addition, Mr. Kirubel from ETC group has also presented and

gave updates about the fi rst Informal-Informal and Third Inter- sectional meeting held in New York City last March.

Participants expressed the need for a clear defi nition on the concept of green econo-my as it might have a hidden agenda that will slowdown Africa’s ambition for devel-opment. The partakers of the workshop argued that human being should be the

center of concern for sustainable development by taking full account of how population and society interact with the natu-ral environment. Besides, they called for a focus on intergov-ernmental processes and county eff orts towards eradicating poverty, creating an equitable society as well as sustainable management of natural resources. In addition, the issue of fi -nance was also raised whenever green economy and sustain-able development was discussed.

The CSOs should bridge the knowledge gap at diff erent levels in the country and should also translate the information into tangible actions by engaging diff erent stakeholders and the grass root community. Before the meeting closed, a committee was established to enrich and fi nalize the Ethiopian CSOs road-map statement for RIO+20 that were drafted by the organizers to be uploaded in the UNCSD website

The heads of FfE, Christian Aid, HoAREC gave open-ing remarks gave open-ing remarks gave open-

and the Vice-ing remarks and the Vice-ing remarks

President of Addis Ababa U n i v e r s i t y gave a key-U n i v e r s i t y gave a key-U n i v e r s i t y

note address. gave a key-note address. gave a key-

From left Araya Asfaw (PhD) (HOAREC/N), Prof. Masresha Fetene (AAU), Mahlet Eyassu (FfE) and Cathy Riley (CA)

Participants at the meeting

Vol. 3, Issue 027

April Issue, 2012

The Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center and Network (HoA-REC/N) has launched the Carbon Credit Team (CCT) on Monday 23rd of April at Hilton Hotel. The

CCT is being set up in collaboration with ICCO, (www.icco.nl). The CCT will support partners to develop bankable car-bon projects and enhance the capacity to generate resourc-es through carbon credit in Ethiopia and in due course in the region.

Climate EventsHoA-REC launches Carbon Credit Team

By Abiy Ashenafi

In his offi cial open-ing remark, Ato Dereje Agonafer of EPA said that the establishment of Carbon Credit Team is an important milestone in fi ll-ing the professional gaps in developing bankable project in Ethiopia. He fur-ther noted that EPA looks forward to col-laborate with HoA-REC/N in enhancing the implementation of recently launched the Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy (CRGE). Low carbon solution brings opportunity to bring about social and economic development through sup-porting existing and new initiatives. Ethiopia is working on translating this strategy into investment plans and projects. In conclusion, he said the CCT is in line with the government policy.

Ato Abiy Ashenafi of HoA-REC said that the development of Carbon layer of a project needs specifi c skill, network and full time dedication. In many cases project developers jug-gle between the development of the project and the carbon layer. This usually leads to abandoning the carbon layer or the assignment being given to (international) consultants.

This is in the end expensive and lacks continuity.

Dr Araya Asfaw Director of HoA-REC said the Carbon Credit Team is a timely initiative. Ethiopia has many potential in gen-erating Carbon Credit. Many organizations have done pioneer work in this area. However the potential of the country in car-bon credit needs to be developed further. One of the bottle-necks is the lack of capacity in the country. This Carbon Credit Team will contribute towards fi lling this gap. He thanked ICCO for the collaboration in this and many other fi elds.

Mr Gert de Gans said that ICCO has programs and networks to enhance the successful development of carbon projects. ICCO will enhance its eff orts to strengthen the capacity of the Car-bon Credit Team here in Addis to generate resources for the en-

hancement of rural livelihood and to protect the environ-ment.

The launching workshop has agreed on the following points.

HoA-REC will establish a Car-bon Credit Team (CCT) to as-sist partners in developing the carbon layer of their project.

The Carbon credit team will establish a network through which the experience of partners who are working on Carbon devel-opment is linked systematically as to create a solid local knowl-edge base.

1. World Vision Ethiopia, Farm Africa, Environment Forum on Coff ee and Forest and HoA-REC have agreed to establish a Coordination Platform (CP) through which the work of CCT can be mainstreamed and made more relevant for all the sectors. The CP will work closely with EPA, the Ministry of Water and Energy and Agriculture and UNDP.

2. HoA-REC will take the fi rst initiative and coordinate the platform

23rd Meeting of the FAO Committee on AgricultureMay 21 - 23, 2012,Rome, ItalyWeb site: http://www.fao.org/bodies/coag/coag23/en/

UNGA Th ematic Debate on Preparations for UNCSDMay 22, 2012, New York, United States of AmericaWebsite: http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/66/Letters/PDF/Rio+20%20-%2020%20Apr...

Upcoming Events

Dr. Araya Asfaw, HoAREC giving an opening remark

Participants at the launch

Vol. 3, Issue 028

April Issue, 2012

Month’s Pick

Members Profile

Gaia Association is an Ethiopian Resident Charity estab-lished in 2005 to revolutionize the household energy economy in Ethiopia, across a range of households;

from private homes in Addis Ababa to refugee camps. Gaia Association and its US based sister organization Project Gaia Inc. have been introducing ethanol as a household fuel in Ethiopia which then replaces existing traditional household fuels, primarily fi rewood and dung. Together with the Ad-ministration for Refugee and Returnees Aff airs (ARRA) and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Gaia Associa-tion has been implementing its projects in the Eastern refu-gee camps of Kebribeyah, Awbere and Sheder.

Gaias’ objectives in the camps are to:

-Reduce cooking energy requirements through the provision of fuel-effi cient devices & alternative energy sources, -Contribute to the enhancement of refugee protection, and -To relieve women from the tedious task of fi rewood collec-tion and risk of Gender-based violence (GBV), while also im-proving indoor air quality. Gaia continued to expand its project by introducing a tech-nology to produce ethanol in small scale distilleries. For this, Gaia Association secured a grant from Ethiopian Environmen-tal Protection Authority, World Bank and Nordic Climate Facil-ity. The Grant from FEPA planned to build three a 150lit/day Ethanol Micro-Distilleries (EMDs) in three regions of Ethiopia while the grant from WB and NCF targets to install a 1000lit/day EMD in Addis Ababa. The FEPA EMDs are planned to be installed in Gambella, Amhara and Oromia regional states of the country that have sugarcane plantation to be used as feedstock for ethanol production. It is also planned that the EMDs will be installed in the selected villages of the regions and will be owned by the local communities’ cooperative. The project aims to introduce ethanol for household use in the

Gaia Associationvillages and nearby towns and at the same time to enhance the daily income of the communities. The ethanol produced will be used for domestic cooking with ethanol stoves which are already in plan to be disseminated in the communities.

Gaia Association launched the Addis EMD project after es-tablishing partnership with Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority and For-mer Fuel wood carriers Association (FWFCA) to implement the project successfully. The project targets to supply ethanol and distribute ethanol fuelled cooking stoves to 1000 low and middle income households in Kolfe-Keranio sub-city at the outskirts of Addis Ababa by establishing a community owned and run EMD.

Gaia Association has been working closely with Makobu En-terprises PLC, who will be the eventual local stove manufac-turer. The partnership is currently collaborating on the Addis Ababa commercialization of the CC Stove, securing ethanol supply and to assess Carbon Financing Mechanisms and oth-ers for stove price reduction. In addition The Association has been working with all related Ethiopian government offi ces especially; Ministry of Water and Energy, Alternative Energy Technology Promotion and Dissemination Directorate, Sugar Agency, Addis Ababa City Government, and the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Health and others.

Gaia Association is one of the members of ECSNCC and has been an active member of the Network. It is a member of the energy working group also serves as the leading agency of the working group working group energy working group also serves as the leading agency of the energy working group also serves as the leading agency of the energy working group also serves as the leading agency of the

List of Publication

Renewable Energy & Climate Change Nexus in Ethiopia, June, 2011

Vol. 3, Issue 029

April Issue, 2012

Durban Update

Upcoming Events

2012 International Biodiver-sity DayMay 22, 2012The theme for this year’s In-ternational Day for Biological Diversity is marine biodiver-sity. Web site: http://www.cbd.int/idb/2012/

All-Energy 2012 Exhibition and ConferenceMay 23 - 24, 2012,Aber-deen, United KingdomWebsite: http://www.all-ener-gy.co.uk/

By Mahlet Eyassu

The decision of the Durban Summit last December in-cludes the continuation of the second commitment pe-riod of the Kyoto Protocol until either 2017 or 2020 with

parties to set their post-2012 emission reduction targets by May 1, 2012. It is to be recalled that Canada, Russia and Ja-pan have said they will not continue to be party to the Kyoto Protocol that was ratified in 2005. However, Australia and New Zealand have missed a deadline to set post-2012 emis-sion reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol, with both governments saying they will decide whether to continue to be legally bound to cut emissions of the seven greenhouse gases later this year.

Australia in its submission said it would make a decision only after parties agree on how long the second Kyoto period (5 or 8 years) would last and how many surplus Kyoto permits can be transferred from the first phase. While New Zealand said it needs full clarity on the ongoing negotiations and the rules and how these relate to the emission reduction measures it is ready to do so domestically. Both countries stressed that they have set 2020 emission goals domestical-ly that are not legally-binding internationally. It is believed that these issues will be discussed in the upcoming session in Bonn, Germany.

Regarding the Green Climate Fund, the first board meeting was supposed to take place before the end of April, which did not happen as the EU and other groups could not come into an agreement and were late in nominating their rep-resentatives to sit on the board. Due to these reasons the first board meeting was postponed to end of May being de-layed for a month, which could also be postponed unless all members are nominated. The other element in the Durban decision was the expression of interest by parties to host the GCF based on the criteria set by mid April. Consequently six countries i.e. Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Mexico, Namib-ia and Republic of Korea have expressed their interest and the board will conduct an open and transparent process to select the host country that will be endorsed by the COP in COP18. Following up on this the interim secretariat has also

launched a website i.e. www.gcfund.net.

With regards to hosting the Climate Technology Centre (CTC), the evaluation panel comprised of six members of the Technol-ogy Executive Committee (TEC) has shortlisted three applicants of the nine that have offered to host the center. The three can-didates, in descending order of ranking, are: a consortium led by the United Nations Environment Programme; the Global Environment Facility; and Det Norske Veritas AS. The report of the evaluation panel will be considered by governments at the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (14 to 25 May) under the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Implementation. And the host of the CTC will be recommended for final approval at COP18 at the end of the year that will make the Technology Mechanism become fully operational in early 2013.

The first formal UN Climate Conference after Durban (i.e. COP 17) will take place in Bonn on 14 - 25 May 2012, which is designed to prepare decisions for adoption at the UN Climate Change Con-ference in Qatar on 26 November - 7 December, 2012

Continued from page 11

Engendering Climate...their vulnerability; the need for generating and disseminating gender disaggregated data; the need to pay particular attention to women’s special conditions; the need for understanding and addressing existing inequalities between men and women that intensify the impacts of climate change for individuals and com-munities; the importance of noting that a gendered approach to climate change should not simply be about women but should take into account the concerns and capabilities of men and boys; the importance of technology needs assessment exercises’ rec-ognizing that technology needs of men and women are not al-ways identical; and the need for gender training at various levels to address issues of knowledge and skills for the integration of gender perspectives in climate change policy making, program-ming , and implementation. The report also recommends the establishment of a separate Gender and Climate Change Work-ing Group under the Ethiopian Civil Society Network on Climate Change

Vol. 3, Issue 0210

April Issue, 2012

Climate Change in the NewsInternational News 

Continued to page 5

Climate change has intensified the global water cycle

Climate scientists have said that one of the many downsides of a warming planet is that both droughts and torrential rains are both likely to get worse. That’s what climate models pre-dict, and that’s what observers have noted, most recently in the IPCC’s report on extreme weather, released last month. 

Source: Climate Central

Mr. Obama needs to show he’s serious about climate change

In an interview that Rolling Stone published on April 25, President Obama said that he thinks climate change will be a big issue in the coming election and that he will be “very clear” about his “belief that we’re going to have to take further steps to deal with climate change.”

Source: Washington Post

A roadmap to ‘climate-friendly’ cars

America’s high-carbon electricity grid short-circuits efforts to give consumers climate-friendly EV options. A new analysis provides a state-by-state road map to the most climate friendly cars on the market today. 

Source: Climate Central

UN struggles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

While striving to secure an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally, the international organization has seen pollution from its own activities, particularly flying, rise. 

Source: ClimateWire

Obama: Climate change will be a campaign issue

President Barack Obama says the amount of money poured

into fighting the scientific consensus on climate change will push the issue into the presidential campaign.

Source: Politico

Mexico’s Senate passes sweeping climate bill, making signifi-cant move toward curbing climate change

Mexico’s Senate has further propelled the country toward a low-carbon economy, approving a comprehensive climate change bill that aims to increase renewable energy use, set ambitious goals to curb domestic emissions and establish a high-level climate com-mission that is authorized to create a domestic carbon market.

Source: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF); http://www.edf.org/

Danger from the deep: New climate threat as methane rises from cracks in Arctic ice

The researchers found significant amounts of methane being re-leased from the ocean into the atmosphere through cracks in the melting sea ice. They said the quantities could be large enough to affect the global climate. Previous observations have pointed to large methane plumes being released from the seabed in the rela-tively shallow sea off the northern coast of Siberia but the latest findings were made far away from land in the deep, open ocean where the surface is usually capped by ice.

Source: The Independent/ http://www.independent.co.uk

Peru is latest developing nation to adopt climate change initia-tive

Peru became the latest developing country to enact a domestic climate change initiative in the absence of a binding global pact, adopting a resolution on Thursday to lower carbon emissions in its fast-growing economy.

Source: Reuters

Upcoming Events29th Meeting of the Joint Implementation Supervisory CommitteeMay 28 - 29, 2012,Bonn, GermanyWeb site: http://unfccc.int/meetings/unfccc_calendar/items/2655.php

Vol. 3, Issue 0211

April Issue, 2012

climate change and the need for engendering climate change related policies and practices.

The study included the assessment of the gender sensitive-ness of the Environmental Policy of Ethiopia (EPE), Ethiopia’s Programme of Adaptation to Climate Change (EPA – CC), and the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) of Ethi-opia. In addition, the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) 2010/11-2014/15, various agricultural and rural development policies and strategies, Ethiopia’s Energy Policy and Bio-fuels Strategy, Water Policy, Women’s Policy (1993), Health Policy (1994), and the most recent Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy document were looked into. Prior to the assessment of these policies and strategies, the study also provides an overview of the climate variability and changes in Ethiopia and the related gender differential impacts and vulnerabilities. The report also discusses a selection of tools for engendering climate change related policies and programmes and recom-mends some strategies for engendering climate change policy and practice.

Following the assessment of the strengths and gaps of the dif-ferent policies and strategies in engendering climate change, the report puts forward some key recommendations. The rec-ommendations emphasize the need to look at women’s capac-ities, knowledge and experiences as environmental managers and leaders beyond the common tendency of focusing just on

Editorial Board

Layout & Design Eden Mesfin www.ecsncc.org

Bezawit Wondwossen, Mahlet Eyassu, Mahlet Tadesse, Medhin Fisseha, Messay Sintayehu

Climate Bulletin

Research Corner

Engendering Climate Change Policy And Practice In Ethiopia: A Study Commissioned By The Ethiopian Civil Society Network On

Climate ChangeBy Medhin Fisseha

Women constitute nearly half of the Ethiopian pop-ulation. The results of the 2007 Population and Housing Census in Ethiopia indicated that females

accounted for 49.5% of the total population of the coun-try. Similarly, half of the 84% of the total population whose livelihood depends on agriculture are women. Like in many other poor countries, Ethiopian women face a set of mul-tiple, cross-cutting, and interrelated problems - including, and exacerbated by, the impacts of climate change. Women are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. On the other hand, as producers and environmental man-agers, women play a vital role in the economic and social development processes. These and various other factors make it imperative that any response to climate change is gender sensitive.

Understanding that failure to consider the gender dimen-sions of climate change at various levels not only exacer-bates gender inequalities, but also undermines the ef-fectiveness of climate change responses, the Ethiopian Civil Society Network on Climate Change (ECSNCC) com-missioned a study on ‘Engendering Climate Change Policy and Practice in Ethiopia’ in the second half of 2011. The study was conducted with financial support from Southern Voices through the Dan Church Aid office in Ethiopia. The purpose of the study was to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the gaps in the gender sensitiveness of climate change related policies and programmes in Ethi-opia and introduce appropriate tools for mainstreaming gender in such policies and programmes. It was also with the aim to use the report of the review to facilitate discus-sions among various stakeholders on the role of gender in

Continued to page 9

Climate Adaptation Futures: Second International Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2012May 29 - 31, 2012,Tucson, United States of AmericaWeb site: http://www.adap-tation.arizona.edu/adapta-tion2012

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