Global funding to Ethiopia faces opposition

ESAT News (April 5, 2017)

Delegates of the US, Canada and other developed countries on Wednesday pushed back a proposal for 100 million dollar funding proposal to help drought stricken communities in Ethiopia at the Green Climate Fund (GCF) board meeting in Songdo, South Korea.

“A bid for US$100 million to drought-proof Ethiopian communities has exposed a rich-poor divide in the UN’s flagship climate finance initiative,” said a report by Climate Home.

The report said the position by the rich countries reflected an independent panel of experts’ assessment that Ethiopia’s proposal was “weak” with “little scope for innovation”.

Tosi Mpanu Mpanu, a GCF board member from DR Congo, told Climate Home the Ethiopian delegation was fighting to the end to save the proposal. “It will discourage people” if they walk away empty-handed, he said. “They will definitely be a bit puzzled and bewildered, because they say ‘we are putting so much effort and manpower and resources and this is what we get’.”

The board will decide the fate of the proposal, along with eight others, on Thursday, according to the report.

A Bangladeshi scheme that was the subject of a similar row in December was quietly withdrawn, allowing the GCF to claim a 100% approval rate.

Millions of Ethiopians are on emergency food aid after the country’s worst drought in 50 years hit crops and livestock herds. Global warming is set to bring more unpredictable rains and heatwaves.

The pitch to the GCF says the project would make farmers and pastoralists more resilient with improved water supplies and farming techniques. An estimated 2.5 million people would benefit, targeting women for more than half the support.

One of the main criticisms of the Ethiopian project was its wide range of activities, not all of which were clearly climate-linked. The report said

“There are a lot of disparate elements to it. It does not necessarily tie everything together in a really compelling way,” said Brandon Wu of Action Aid USA from Songo. “That said, it does have a more holistic approach to adaptation. It looks at different drivers of vulnerability and I think that is really important.

The Green Climate Fund started out with $10 billion of pledges from governments to help poor countries meet their climate goals. Donald Trump is threatening to axe the US’ outstanding $2bn donation, leaving $8bn to play with.