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Costs and benefits of climate change adaptation in Ethiopia discussed at Africa Adaptation Programme Brownbag Lunch Series
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On April 20, the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) held its second Brown Bag Luncheon of 2011. The presentation demonstrated the costs and benefits of climate change adaptation in Ethiopia. Under the AAP, Ethiopia is one of 20 countries in Africa developing their capacities to implement holistic adaptation and disaster risk reduction programmes that are aligned with their national development priorities.
Paul Block, Associate Research Scientist at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University (IRI) presented the analysis. The AAP is partnering with IRI for a number of activities, including climate data collection, studying the impacts of climate change upon health, and economic impacts of climate change. Mr. Block, an expert in water resources management, has investigated the impacts that climate variability will have on hydropower generation in Ethiopia and meeting its expected energy generation targets. He contributed to the section on the future of hydropower in Ethiopia in a World Bank report Ethiopia: Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change.
Climate change could have significant impacts on Ethiopia’s development plans and GDP under different climate change scenarios. “Economy-wide impacts are expected as a result of climate change in Ethiopia’s priority sectors,” said Mr. Block. Agriculture, road infrastructure and energy are the three main areas that could be affected by climate change in Ethiopia. According to the World Bank study, adaptation greatly reduces, but does not eliminate the welfare loss due to climate change and lowers income variability. Adaptation provides significant benefits to each of the priority sectors under the climate change scenarios and reduces GDP losses. “In order to address climate change, renewed efforts are required to strengthen social safety-nets, access to relief funds, drought early warning systems, crop insurance programs, grain banks, and strengthen infrastructure design,” he added. Early planning for the more severe climate impacts of mid-century is important in order to avoid climate-vulnerable development.
AAP countries are using cost-benefit analyses to identify the most vulnerable sectors and the costs of climate change with and without adaptation. Each of the AAP countries has identified the priority sectors they will address in their national projects. These cost-benefit analyses will assist the AAP countries in identifying the most effective adaptation strategies and policies in these sectors.
AAP is a flagship programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), established in 2008 in partnership with UNIDO, UNICEF and WFP, and funded by a $92.1 million grant from the Government of Japan. The programme assists the governments of 20 African countries to promote integrated and comprehensive approaches to climate change adaptation. Specifically, AAP strengthens governments’ ability to identify unique climate risks and vulnerabilities and develop capacity to design and implement holistic climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies corresponding to national development priorities.
