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Climate change – A burning issue for Ethiopia: Ethiopia has entered its new millennium with high hopes of renaissance and a better life for all in the coming decades. One of the challenges it will have to face to make this dream come true is climate change and the consequences of climate change on the country’s natural resource base. Climate change will affect Ethiopia’s agriculture, water resources, biodiversity and ecosystems—hence it will highly disrupt the livelihood of the Ethiopian people. The well-off might be able to manage, but large sections of the populations, in both the lowlands and the highlands, may no longer be able to cope and will suffer more.
The second Green Forum annual event, held on October 31 to November 2, 2007 therefore focused on the impact of climate change as one of the major challenges of the New Millennium.
The three-day event was attended by more than 100 participants, including parliamentarians, representatives of government agencies and non-governmental organisations, and youth associations.
The event was opened by H.E. Ato Girma Wolde Giorgis, President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and ended with the endorsement of a 12-point declaration endorsed by the participants.
A documentary film featuring was screened during the opening session in support of the African climate appeal. Spearheaded by Peace Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai, this appeal is a demand from environmental activists from Africa for urgent action from both industrialised and African countries to prepare Africa for the impact of climate change. The appeal signed by H.E. the President of Ethiopia and by the attending parliamentarians and 103 other participants.
The papers in these proceedings include a desk study summarizing the literature on the impact of climate change in Ethiopia, a global overview of climate change, its causes, and related international mechanisms, a review of Ethiopia’s National Adaptation programme of Action preparation process, a case study of the meaning of climate change at ground level and a critical analysis of the views propagated about climate change in Ethiopia. The last two papers present a summary of the points raised during a panel discussion, and during the final on the way forward.
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