Pitch
Implementations of climate change adaption and mitigation strategies should aware and mobilize society and citizen, inspire innovations etc.
Description
Summary
Recognizing the threat of climate change impacts, Ethiopia has developed and implementing climate resilient green economy (CRGE) strategy aimed at building carbon neutral green development economy and achieve middle income status by 2030 by taking climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. The CRGE strategy has four pillars which include adoption of measures that increase the efficiencies of agriculture and lad uses, increasing GHG sequestrations in forest, deployment of renewable energy and clean power generation and uses of appropriate advanced technologies in transport, industry and buildings. Appreciable progress has been achieved in since the adoption of CRGE ago. To this end, massive watershed rehabilitation and development works have been started some five years ago all over the country and significant improvements in reforestation, soil and water conservation has been achieved. There is also a significant progress in the expansion of zero emission electricity such as generation of electricity from wind, water and geothermal energy.
Implementing the CRGE strategy requires contributions from all concerned parties including communities, public, citizens, NGOs, academia etc. These in turn require awareness creation to all actors on various aspects of climate change impacts, creating a platform for sharing and exchange of knowledge and experiences among organizations, public, citizens etc. encouraging domestic innovations by fellow citizens that will help to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts.
Therefore, this project proposal outlines approaches and strategies of awareness creation to public and all concerned bodies and mobilizing communities for climate change adaption and mitigation. It also describes methods of sharing knowledge and experiences on climate change and outlined ways of inspiring citizens for innovations and raising finance for climate change mitigation and adaption actions etc.
Is this proposal for a practice or a project?
Practice
What actions do you propose?
Background
Climate change is defined as a change in mean state of climate or in its variability persisting for several decades or longer over mainly caused by anthropogenic GHG emissions is now a reality in the world. It is mainly characterized by extreme events such as heavy flooding, heat wave, drought, increased intensity and frequency of storms etc. Climate change is one of the most challenging threats to human kind in this 21stcentury and probably onwards.
Even if all nations of the world are affected and will be affected by one or more forms of climate change, the impacts of climate change has been disproportionate and will be more severe in low income tropical and subtropical countries especially sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The problem is further complicated by fragile environment, dominance of climate sensitive sector in the economic activity and poor adaptive capacity of these countries.
The world has started to recognize climate change and its impacts more than two decades ago and various initiative, conventions and agreements aimed at addressing climate change challenges used to be developed and approved on global scale. Especially, UN has been in the forefront in recognizing the threat of climate change and leading global effort to tackle climate change challenges. Even if appreciable and encouraging progress has been made in the last two decades to mitigate and adapt to climate change, it was only in December, 2015 in Paris that the whole nations had come together and unanimously approved global convention on adaptation and mitigation of mitigate climate change impacts.
In line with global effort, every nation has designed policies and strategies of its own that will enable to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Ethiopia is one of the countries of the world which is highly concerned with global climate change challenges and consequently, it has been actively engaged in global negotiations on climate change matters on behalf of itself and on the behalf of Africa. It is also is one of the exemplary countries in the world to develop climate resilient green economy (CRGE) strategy aimed at building carbon neutral green development economy and achieve middle income status by 2030 by taking climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. In this strategy, it is planned to keep annual GHG emission between 150-250 Mt CO2e until 2030 which otherwise estimated to reach 400 Mt CO2e. To realize this target, the plan has four pillars which include adoption of measures that increase the efficiencies of agriculture and lad uses, increasing GHG sequestrations in forest, deployment of renewable energy and clean power generation and uses of appropriate advanced technologies in transport, industry and buildings. Appreciable progress has been achieved in since the adoption of CRGE. For instance, massive watershed rehabilitation and development works have been started some five years ago all over the country and significant improvement in reforestation, in conserving of soil and water have been achieved. There is also a significant progress in the expansion of zero emission electricity such as generation of electricity from wind, water and geothermal energy.
However, a lot remains to be done and building climate resilient green economy is not the sole responsibility of the Ethiopian government. Therefore, it is also requires collaborative efforts and contribution from all organization, academia, NGOs and every citizen. Addressing climate change challenge also requires integrated approaches including awareness creation or aware public on various aspects of climate change, sharing and exchange of knowledge and experiences among organizations, public, within in the country, across the country etc., encouraging domestic innovations by fellow citizens, innovations that help to mitigate climate change (E.g GHG Emission reducing technologies) and innovations that help to adapt to climate change impacts. These can be done through establishing and mobilizing climate change communities by independent body or a unit/department in relevant organization.
Goal
- To contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts of Ethiopia.
General Objective
Establish and mobilize Ethiopian climate change community (ECCC) to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation effort of the country through awareness creation, knowledge dissemination, encouraging and incentivizing technology innovations among fellow citizens that decrease or avoid GHG emission.
Specific objectives
- Establish online Ethiopian climate change community where by interested professionals, scientist, individuals etc. will exchange knowledge and experience on climate change issues, discuss and debate on various aspects of climate change.
- To serve as a platform for generation of financial resources from members, volunteers, interested individuals, sponsors etc.
- To stimulate and encourage innovations and creativity among Ethiopian fellow citizens that help to reduce or avoid GHG emission and adapt to climate change.
- To encourage fellow citizens to develop project proposals aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change in Ethiopia
- To create awareness among public on climate change
- To create data base of information on climate change (Knowledge management)
Implementation Strategies
Objective-1: To serve as online platform for ECCC (interested professionals, scientist, individuals etc.) Whereby they will exchange knowledge and experience on climate change
Actions
- Create Ethiopian climate change community (ECCC) web site (Financial Sources: Private investors, NGOs etc.). NB. The web site can be created through Ethio-Telecom or web platform can be created on LinkedIn professional web site by renting.
- Create online platform for enrolling interested individuals, experts, institutions, members,academia etc. who are interested on various aspects of climate change issue.
- Create discussion forum whereby discussion on issues of climate change will be discussed
- Create corridors on the web site for sponsors of the web site to advertise their business, conference, announcements, jobs etc.
- Create entry on the web site whereby volunteers will donate financial support to the ECCC
- Organize and convene periodic panel discussion on different issues of climate change on public media.
- Organize and launch scientific conference and workshop on climate change.
Objective-2: To stimulate and encourage innovations and creativity among Ethiopian fellow citizens that Help to reduce GHG emission and adapt to climate change
Actions
- Select and fixed fields of climate change mitigation technologies ( Energy (innovation that uses solar and water energies for different purposes, technologies that reduced GHG emission from wood burning, etc. etc..)
- Fix money to be awarded to winners for top ranking innovative technology on GHG emission reduction.
- Make a call through mass media, internet etc. for contestants to present their innovations, ideas, technologies etc. on GHG reduction (Details of the procedures will be develop).
- At the same time invite organization, institutions, and private firms etc. to sponsor for running technology innovation competition programs this will contribute to budget for running the contest.
- Assign judges, advisors and fellows for each field who will evaluate and compare innovations and technologies presented by contestants.
- Contestants whose innovations selected as promising technologies will be invited to present and explain about technical quality, effectiveness of their innovation for public.
- The event will be broadcasted on ETV by purchasing an air time from EBC, thus in the in addition to expert evaluation, participating public/viewers of TV can vote to the technologies of contestants through SMS.
- Then by aligning the evaluation of experts and public vote an outstanding technology will be selected.
- The money for purchase of airtime from EBC will be obtained from sponsors who will be approached beforehand for their interest and willingness to sponsor such program.
- Publicly and officially awarded contestants whose technologies, ideas etc. have been selected as outstanding towards GHG emission reduction.
Objective-3: To create awareness among public on climate change
Activities listed under objective 1 and 2 above are part of the broad public awareness program on climate change and yet there is need to make the general public aware of the various aspects of climate change and its impacts.
Actions
- Coordination and preparation of public lectures, panel discussion and question and answer program on climate change.
- Broadcasting TV and Radio such programs including documentary films dealing on climate change once in a week (Amahric/Tigrie/Oromipha language translation).
Objective-4: To identify financial sources and get fund for ECCC
Actions
- To identify climate funds, organizations, individuals, business people, donors etc. who stake on climate change issues will like to finance ECCC (Names, contact address etc.)
- After identifying such sources, communication will be started with each of them and finally face to face presentation of what ECCC is all about, its objectives, goals etc.
- Then financial support obtained as a donation or from business advertising will be transferred in to legal account of the ECCC
- Financial income generation to ECCC by sponsors (sponsors who want to advertise their businesses, activities, organization etc.) will be invited to sponsor the ECCC. In return ECCC will advertise sponsor organization through TV during broadcasting climate innovation completion
- Exploring international climate change funding organizations
- Establish legal and bank account of ECCC and financial administration system
- Arrange modalities with Ethio-telecom for sharing income collected from ECCC website browsers and SMS text message
Objective-5: To enable ECCC generates income and sustains itself
The project seeks financial support critically from interested donors during initial phase only. Otherwise it should generate income to sustain itself. Thus, to make ECCC self funding and self sustaining, the following actions need to be taken
Actions
- ECCC will have its web site whereby any individuals, organizations, professionals will discuss, exchange knowledge and experiences, share publications, download publications etc. In the process of browsing the web site they are spending on the internet to which they will pay service charge directly or indirectly to Ethio-Telecom, thus, from what they pay for tell, some proportion of the payment should be remunerated to ECCC through agreement with Ethio-Telecom.)
- A side block on ECCC web site will be availed for organizations, companies, hotels, government institution etc. to advertise their services and products in return they will pay for advertisements service they get from ECCC web site.
- Income from organizations (GO’s, NGO’s, Private business firms, individuals etc.) sponsoring ECCC TV run program such as national climate change mitigation innovative technology contest.
- Share of income with Ethio-Telecom from public SMS text message service payment public may be asked by ECCC to vote for climate mitigation innovative technologies presented by different contestants as they will be displayed on ETV (Details of agreement modalities between Ethio-Telcom and ECCC will be prepared).
- Income share from production and sell of selected GHG emission reducing technologies.
Organizational Structure of ECCC
The ECCC can be established as independent private firm, NGO or can be integrated as a component of relevant Government institution. In any case, organizational structure is shown in Fig. 1 is proposed to effectively accomplish all intended actions and achieve goals and objectives of the practice.
Who will take these actions?
Where will these actions be taken?
In addition, specify the country or countries where these actions will be taken.
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