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Participants of the community-based climate conference of Least Develop Countries (LDCs) stressed that the solutions to climate resilience and adaptation are found at grass-root levels.A participant from Niger, Ababale Mahamane Sanoussi told ENA that “we know about the problems of climate change, and the solutions for me are at grass roots.”

The Nigerien Technical Advisor for Climate Learning and Advocacy for Resilience Program added that the big challenge is to link community-based adaptation with the community and come out with something that can benefit for the community through action at community level.The conference is useful to learn and share experiences coming from the grass-roots, he stated.

Climate Justice Resilience Fund Director, Heather McGray said on her part the participants are building knowledge around community-based adaptation to build trust in their relationship.McGray stated that her organization is supporting the grassroots to build their own solutions to climate change.“We are particularly supporting women’s organizations and indigenous peoples and youth,” she added.

According to her, the organization has about 20 participants from partner organizations who have been giving presentations on climate change at the conference.Global Green Growth Institute Country Program Advisor, Gebru Jember pointed out that the focus is on sharing the experiences of the respective communities of participants and taking lesson to enhance climate resilience and adaptation as it needs bottom up approach to alleviate the problem.

He added that all countries should get involved in the effort to reduce green house gas emission as forest fire, drought, landslide, flood and heat waves as well as decline in productivity are becoming common challenges caused by climate change.Gebru stated that the participants are sharing experiences and expected to find resilient and sustainable solution for the adverse impact of climate change.

About 300 experts, practitioners, government representatives, policy makers and donors are in attendance of the four-day 13th International Annual Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA).

ENA

A community-based climate conference of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) organized with the objective of sharing experiences and understandings how communities can adopt to climate change kicked off in Addis Ababa  today.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Chief Environment Officer of Bhutan and conference chairperson Tenzin Wangmo said the 13rd Annual Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) is a critical component for finding solutions for protecting communities and the environment from the impacts of climate change.

She added that the conference is expected to increase the desire of member states to mobilize their respective populations to create climate resilient society by 2020.

Climate change has been affecting the lives of hundred millions of people around the world and the global eco-system has suffered a huge loss due to the change in climate.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commissioner, Fekadu Beyene said climate change needs global effort to address its adverse impacts as it is a global phenomenon that is currently imposing one of the biggest threats to the lives of the people.

“The impacts of climate change do not discriminate between the rich and the poor. However, the poor and the disadvantaged groups suffer most both in the short and long terms,” he noted.

Unless LDCs are engaged in building resilience and adapting capacity building programs, the commissioner said, adding that climate change will bring great loss to them. Hence, this requires a concerted effort by everyone.

Fekadu pointed out that experts, practitioners, government representatives, policy makers and donors participating in the four-day conference are expected to share their experiences and find resilient and sustainable solution for the adverse impact of climate change.

walta

 

The City Road & Transport Bureau has hired three companies that will supervise the design of an Intelligent Transport System Master Plan, an integrated program for traffic management and pedestrian safety.
Expected to cost 600 million Br and financed by the World Bank, the project will integrate traffic management and pedestrian safety throughout Addis Abeba by way of corridor and intersection improvements using traffic management technologies.
The system also provides real-time traffic information to commuters, which enhances their safety and comfort by reducing traffic congestion and longer trip times.The lead German consultancy firm, H.P. Gauf Ingeieure Gmbh & Co, will jointly undertake the project with PTV Transport Consultant Gmbh and WYG International B.V.
Gauf secured the project after vying against 36 other international companies that expressed interest, with six finalists making the cut.

The Bureau will be installing the system to improve five main corridors, 132 road junctions, 22 existing signalised locations and 27 other on-going intersections. The six-year project comprises of detailed study and design of construction corridors, road junctions and traffic management centre.The project is intended to regulate traffic management in the city in order to reduce traffic, according to Behailu G. Eyesus, head of the Transport System Improvement Program Implementation Unit.
The development of the master plan will optimise the existing system by using efficient design, according to Behailu.
Corridors that extend from the British Embassy to Africa Avenue; from Arat Kilo to Atikilt Tera; St. George Church to Gojam Berenda; Arat Kilo to Bras Hospital; and Dej Omer Semeter School to the Grand Palace are the five corridors selected for the project.Implemented in two phases, the first phase includes a study and design, while phase two comprises supervision work and capacity building. Installation of CCTV cameras and traffic lights, will also be included in the project.

The roads in the city are becoming more congested, according to Tamene Belle, communications director for the City Traffic Management Agency.”More than 20,000 additional vehicles join the roads every year, fueling the traffic congestion in the city,” he said.The total number of registerd vehicles during 2017/18 was 553,938.
At the same time accidents are increasing in the city. Reports show that more than 456 people, mostly pedestrians, die by car accidents every year. A year ago the city recorded 478 deaths, 3,133 injuries and 28,289 road accidents.
Fekadu Gurmessa (PhD), a lecturer on transport geography at the Addis Abeba University for more than a decade, commends the project.

He says that the city is growing in size faster than the infrastructure development in the capital. Therefore, more people cause more road congestion and accidents.To solve the problem sustainably, he suggests the implementation of a motorisation policy, which promotes more use of public transport for controlling traffic congestion.
“For the best implementation of the new system, the city needs additional ring roads to create alternative road connections,” Fekadu said.

Fortune

የአካባቢ የደንና የአየር ንብረት ለውጥ ኮሚሽን የድምጽ ብክለት ቁጥጥርን በተመለከተው አዲስ ረቂቅ ደንብ አዘጋጅቶ ከባለድርሻ አካላት ጋር ተወያየ።ደንቡ የመጀመሪያ ረቂቅ ሲሆን በ1995 ዓ.ም የወጣውን የብክለት ቁጥጥር አዋጅ 300/1995 አንቀጽ 20 መሰረት አድርጎ የተዘጋጀ ነው።

ረቂቁ ከዚህ በፊት ከወጣው ጥቅል የብክለት አዋጅ በተጨማሪ የድምጽ ብክለትን ነጥሎ የሚያይ መሆኑን በኮሚሽኑ የአካባቢ ብክለት ሁኔታ ክትትልና ቁጥጥር ዳይሬክተር ወይዘሮ ሙሉብርሃን ታሪኩ ገልጸዋል።ረቂቅ ደንቡን በተለያዩ ውይይቶች በማዳበር በተያዘው በጀት አመት መጨረሻ የሚኒስትሮች ምክርቤት ካጸደቀው በኋላ ተፈጻሚ መሆን ይጀምራልም ብለዋል።

የድምጽ ብክለት ቀጠናዎችን የመኖሪያ ፣የንግድ ፣የኢንዱስትሪና ቅይጥ በሚል ዘርፍ በመለየት ለእያንዳንዱ የየራሱ መስፈርት ተቀምጦለት የሚጠቀሙት የድምጽ መጠን እንደየቀጠናቸው የሚወሰን ይሆናል።በኮሚሽኑ የህግ ተከባሪነት ክትትልና ቁጥጥር ጄኔራል ዳይሬክተር አቶ መሃሪ ወንድማገኝ የቀደመው አዋጅ ጠቅላላ ብክለትን ለመቆጣጠር የወጣ ቢሆንም ድምጽን  ብክለት ነው ብሎ ያለመቀበል ሰፊ ክፍተት እንደነበረውም ጠቁመዋል።

የድምጽ ብክለትን ለመቆጣጠር በሚደረገው ሂደትም ሰፊ ችግር መኖሩን ገልጸዋል።የንግድ ቢሮዎች ፈቃድ ሲሰጡም ተጽእኖውን ግምገመው ስለማያደርጉ ከባለድርሻ አካላት ጋር ያለው ቅንጅታዊ አሰራር የላላ መሆኑን ጠቅሰዋል።አዲሱ ረቂቅ ደንብ ተፈጻሚ ሲሆን ክፍተቱን ይሞላል ተብሎ መታሰቡን ጠቅሰው ንግድ ቢሮዎች ፈቃድ ከመስጠታቸው በፊት አካባቢውን በአካል መመልከት እንዳለባቸውም አሳስበዋል።

በተጨማሪም ፈቃድ ሳያወጡ የሚሰሩ አካላት ላይ ጥብቅ ቁጥጥር ማድረግ እንደሚገባ ተናግረዋል።በመጨረሻም ደንቡ ተግባራዊ ሲሆን ሃይማኖታዊና ብሄራዊ ክብረ በአላት በሚካሄዱበት ጊዜ ያለን የድምጽ ብክለት እንደማያካትት ተገልጿል።

 

ኢዜአ

A new report from UN Environment and WRI found that at least 127 countries (of 192 reviewed) have adopted some form of legislation to regulate plastic bags as of July 2018. These policies range from outright bans to progressive phase-outs to laws that incentivize the use of reusable bags. Yet despite increasing regulations, plastic pollution remains a massive problem.Here are a few reasons why plastic bag regulations are not yet effective in slowing down ocean pollution:1.Most countries fail to regulate plastic through its lifecycle.2.Countries favor partial bans over full bans.3.Virtually no countries restrict plastic bag manufacturing/production.4.Exemptions are numerous.5.Incentives are not offered for alternatives to single use plastic bags.

Source-https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/03/127-countries-now-regulate-plastic-bags-why-arent-we-seeing-less-pollution?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTURobFpUY3pOREptWXpkaiIsInQiOiJ0UTllU251djB6YU9JUzBsVUpWelVPelpNRXJBXC9oaXRqZ1cyZm9cL0ZTeDBkMUxmdllNcVhiNm9KbFhQblo2ZWo4MlFzdmd3ZVwvNzV

A study focusing on the Integration of Variable Renewable into the Ethiopia electrical grid considering the development scenario until 2030 has been rolled out.
Entitled: “Integration of Variable Energy on the National Electric System,” the study was crafted and developed in close coordination with the Ethiopia Electric Power and RES4 Africa in and Enel Foundation as well as technical support from Italian firm CESI.
The aim of the study is to estimate the optimal amount of variable renewable energy resources that can be integrated into the Ethiopian electric power system between 2025 and 2030 by identifying possible criticalities and suggesting remedial measures concerning both the operation system generation and operation.
“The study will help to attract investments and enable the full capacity of exploiting the socio-economic benefits of renewables in Ethiopia,” Roberto Vigotti secretary general of RES4 Africa said.
The current energy generation is highly reliant on hydropower with 3800 MW equal to 89 percent of total generation capacity and the electrification rate of 85 percent in urban areas. This is high but it drops dramatically to 10 percent in rural areas, so only 25 percent of Ethiopian citizens enjoy access to energy. The population and GDP growth will result in an increased demand for electricity in the coming years. the government is turning its attention to other renewable energy sources to diversify the energy mix.
According to the study, the country should exploit renewable energy sources efficiently to cope up with the strong demand growth that exceeds 12 percent per year.
A focus on attaining a more balanced energy mix between hydro resources, solar, wind and geothermal sources, diversifying the mix of energy resources will improve the security of supply and will help mitigate the effect of climate change, the study states. Bio mass resources from wood residues and sugar waste can also contribute to energy diversification.
Wind power has a capacity of 324MW equal to 8 percent of total generation capacity while biomass, geothermal and liquid fossil fuels provide only 2 percent of total generation.
In the future, wind and solar power capacities can be installed in Ethiopia. Up to 2400 MW from wind and 3500MW solar is expected in 2025 and 3600MW from wind and 5300MW from solar by the year 2030.
The overall non hydropower renewable capacity is estimated to grow from 9 percent recorded in 2017 up to 34 percent in 2025 and 43 percent in 2030.
As Ethiopia has the strategy of becoming a world class exporter of large amounts of clean and cheap renewable energy, an additional demand is estimated in the mid and long term due to power export.
In 2025, 68 percent of the energy will be produced by hydropower plants, 13 percent by solar and 12 percent by wind power plants.
Concerning the interconnections with the neighboring countries, the Ethiopian electric power system is currently interconnected with Sudan and Djibouti for a total of 300 MW net transfer capacity. However, additional interconnection with Kenya 2000MW is in the advanced stage of construction and a new Ethiopia Sudan interconnection is about to start at 3000MW.
The main importing country would be Sudan equal to 67 percent in 2025 and 93 percent in 2030.
Export to neighboring countries in the presence of additional VRES capacity could lead to net benefits up to1.6 billion in 2025 increasing to 2.4 billion USD in 2030.
This year’s African Economic Outlook 2019 from the African Development Bank (AfDB) says Ethiopia will generate USD one billion by 2020 from energy exports.
“Beside generating and diversifying energy sectors, the government should develop the legal framework for private sector involvement,” Vigotti added.

Capital

The government of Ethiopia is in discussions to use the carbon trading for the distribution of safe water and related schemes at public schools through a partnership with Impact Water, a US based social enterprise.The delegation discussing carbon trading visited Ethiopia for the second time this week to meet government officials working in areas like the Environment, Forest and Climate Change Commission, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health.
Besides discussions a consultative workshop included presentations from representatives of Impact Water and government bodies, the private sector and local and international nonprofit organizations working on water issues.
The workshop was held at Golden Tulip and included people working on water purification, construction and related projects, international and local supporters and government officials.
The US based social enterprise has been working in African countries including Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.
Tim Neville, COO of Impact Water, told Capital that Impact Water is working to create access to safe drinking water solutions in schools. “We have successfully installed water purification systems in over 12,000 schools in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria reaching 5 million students,” he said.
“We are in a conversation now with the government of Ethiopia and stakeholders that are involved in water, sanitation and hygiene to see how our model might be of value to Ethiopia and how to create affordable, sustainable and cost effective safe drinking water solutions for schools. We would love to move beyond schools, health facilities, community water, and household water over time but today we are focused on schools,” Tim added.
“The discussion with the government was very successful since we have gotten all government stakeholders from the environment, finance and water sectors. The dialogue focused on how Impact Water and its partners have worked and how those partnerships and resources could be made relevant for the government of Ethiopia,” he explained.
We are making a proposal. It is in the initial project design. We will explore how much funding we need and collect clear data regarding schools.
“It is in the initial stage but all partners have enthusiasm. I think we have sufficient interest and there is enough alignment with resources,” the COO explained.
He hopes that the pilot will be finished in the next three months. Social impact financers are providing zero or minimal interest rate loans for such kind of projects, while company will be refunded by institutions or governments for their role in reducing carbon emission regarding the process of purifying of water on the carbon trading scheme.
Menassie Kifle, CEO of Citrus International Trading Plc, which is local providing Aquatabs to purify 180,000 liters of water used by Impact Water, said that his company motivated the social enterprise to come and work with the government in Ethiopia.
He said that there is different water system in Ethiopian schools and that the social business will work with the government.
Several studies indicate that investing one dollar in water and related project is saving four dollars for the society since the rate of water born diseases, which is one of the major health problems in Ethiopia and affects the economy.
Water, sanitation and hygiene are a national development priority for Ethiopia and part of its development goals. There are over 26 million students in 39,000 schools in Ethiopia.

Capital

የከተማ አስተዳደሩ ካቢኔ ባደረገው ስብሰባ ለወጣቶች ተዘዋዋሪ የብድር ፈንድ ለመመደብ የቀረበ ረቂቅ ሰነድ ላይ ተወያይቶ አፅድቋል፡፡

በዚህም መሠረት ዝርዝር ዕቅዶችን በማዘጋጀት እና በአፋጣኝ ከወጣቱ ጋር ሰፊ የምክክር መድረኮችን በማዘጋጀት የጋራ መግባባት ላይ ከተደረሰ በኃላ ወጣቶቹ በተለያየ ዘርፍ ወደ ስራ እንዲገቡ አቅጣጫ አስቀምጧል፡፡

በከተማዋ ከ700ሺ በላይ ስራ አጥ ወጣት እንዳሉ መረጃዎች የሚያመለክቱ ሲሆን ይህ የሁለት ቢሊዮን ብር ተዘዋዋሪ የብድር ፈንድ ይህንን የስራ አጥ ቁጥር ለመቀነስ እና የከተማዋን ኢኮኖሚ በማነቃቃቱ ረገድ ከፍተኛ አስተዋፅዖ እንደሚኖረውም ይጠበቃል፡፡

The deadliest garbage dumpsite,Koshe landfill which has killed 200 residents already, has been rehabilitated in order to avoid imminent disaster and the possibilities of toxic gas explosions such as methane.
The Addis Ababa city landfill, a.k.a. Kosheh as served for 50 years experiencing the worst garbage mountain avalanche in 2017 killing so many residents in and around the landfill. Since then under rehabilitation with foreign financial and technical supports, the first phase of the Koshe rehabilitation project has reached its final stages.
City officials, diplomats, waste management experts and the likes have toured the landfill and observed ongoing activities, and how the Japanese well-known Fukuoka-Method (Semi-aerobic landfill structure) for solid waste management has been implemented at the site. The Fukuoka-Method as it is widely known and implemented in countries in Asia and Latin America is a sanitary landfill system for solid waste management.

Toshikazu Mito, the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-Habitat) technical advisor, told The Reporter that the project first to sorts out and decomposes waste accumulated at the site. However, since the nature of the garbage in Addis Ababa and the rest of Ethiopia is basically made up of “organic” content that means that it comes with a high volume of moisture; the Fukuoka-Method helps to ventilate and circulate the flow of oxygen into the inner body of the landfill where the absence of air likely causes emissions of toxic and lethal gases.
That process involves installation of vertically perforated gas venting pipes at the bottom of the landfill. In addition to that, leachate or waste water that drains from the dumpsite is controlled with another treatment system implemented in with the installations of a 190 meter underground pipe.

That process eases bad odors and releases toxic fluids from the landfill. A leach ate pond that could hold 180 cubic meters of waste water has been built within the landfill. So far, 52 sets of gas venting pipes have been fitted together with gibbon installations and leachate drainage system.
Apart from that, terracing and reducing the steep slopes of the garbage hill was another measure considered to avert critical slides.

In the first phase of the project, so far, has seen expend USD two million financing from Japan. The solid waste management project has been implemented in a closure of two hectare plot out of the 30 hectare area of the landfill.
Solomon Kidane (PhD), deputy mayor of Addis Ababa City Administration, said that 60 percent of the waste generated from the city can be recycled. However, lack of proper waste management and garbage collection methods have exacerbated the already overcapacity dumpsite by the growing demographic push. The 2017 incident brought together the likes of UN-Habitat to provide both technical and advisory assistances to the government on how it should go about with introducing standardized waste management systems in place.
The completion of phase I of the project required an additional USD 400,000 financing from the government of Japan and the second phase to enter into operations such as capacity building and safety related procedures that will be implemented at the dumpsite.

During the dumpsite visit, a commemorative ceremony for the deceased was planned to be observed until, for reasons which are unclear,Eshetu Lemma, manager of the Addis Ababa City Administration Solid Waste Management Agency, abruptly covered the unveiling of the headstones creating a sore environment among the attendees present at the event.

The Reporter

Urbanization in Ethiopia brings opportunity for the communities if it is managed properly, scholars said.Civil Service University Urban Development and Engineering College Dean, Daniel Lirebo told ENA that the number of urban centers with 2,000-20,000 population in Ethiopia is increasing.

These can become centers of science, innovation and create employment opportunities, if managed properly, he added. “Unfortunately, most cities and towns in our country are not properly managed since they are not led by urban plan. Taking Addis Ababa as an example, it is becoming difficult to solve urban related problems in the city,” the dean noted.

Old cities of Ethiopia like Addis Ababa were established without master plan. They were villages that evolved into towns and later on to big cities, Daniel stated.The renovation of old cities is also creating economic and social hurdles among the communities.The dean appreciated the initiation of the present government in commissioning master plans for newly emerging towns. He suggested that the government provides basic services for consumption, planned settlement and develop infrastructures for towns and cities.

Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development Department Chairperson, Berhanu Woldetensae said better employment, education and health as well as infrastructural expansions come with urbanization, despite challenges. “As urbanization is inevitable development that attracts more labor force from the countryside due to expansion of industrial parks and other developments,” he noted.

According to Berhanu, the rural-urban and urban-urban migration in the country has created uneven urban population distribution in the cities which resulted in disparity between urban population growth and expansion of basic facilities and services for the population.

He pointed out that horizontal expansion of urbanization of the country has also impacted on reducing agricultural productivity and diminish the green areas of the country by annexing large amount of fertile agricultural lands into cities and towns.Vertical urban expansion, strong urban planning management, promoting structured urban planning, enhancing human resource and financial capital of cities and towns, involving the public in the process of urban planning and design are fundamental for integrated urban development in the country, the chairperson suggested.

Urban Development and Housing Ministry Public Relations and Communication Head, Ethiopia Bedecha said the government has already launched integrated and planned urban development programs through enhancing public awareness and capacity building of relevant bodies.Stating the presence of over 2000 urban centers in the country, he added that most of them lack urban planning and sufficient infrastructure and facilities. He noted that the ministry is working on resolving basic challenges in the urban centers of the country.

“The ministry is introducing urban planning to cities and towns, which were established without plans. Each regional urban planning institute in states is organized to run urban plans to be effective in cities and towns of the country,” the head stated.

It is also working on promoting green and clean urban development by creating beautiful and suitable cities with financial and material support of international financial organizations like World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), he added.

More than 20 percent of the population in Ethiopia lives in urban centers.

ENA

 

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