I first travelled to Ethiopia in the 1970s, and I have been astounded by the remarkable progress the country has made over the last 25 years. The purpose of my visit was to renew UN Environment’s partnership with the country to build resilience to climate change, particularly in the water sector, greening and restoring landscapes and beating pollution.
In a meeting with Vera Songwe, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, we discussed how to strengthen cooperation in support of African countries to address major environmental challenges. I outlined several key priorities including environment and job creation; wildlife protection and tourism; addressing pollution. It was pointed out that UN Environment could provide support on making the charcoal chain more sustainable. I promised our support in finding alternative solutions. I also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with the African Union Commission on environmental challenges facing the region as part of our environmental governance work.
In a visit to a land conservation programme in the Tigray region in Ethiopia, I saw firsthand, efforts by local communities to restore landscapes through building terraces, irrigation systems and stone walls. For these stellar efforts, the Tigray region received the Future Policy Gold Award at the 13th meeting of parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
UN Environment is committed to providing technical and capacity support in helping the country better address this critical challenge.
