The international community adopted the UNFCCC at UNCED in 1992 held in Rio de Janeiro to combat anthropogenic climate change. Ethiopia ratified the UNFCCC in April 1994. The Climate Convention commits all Parties to develop and submit “national communications” which should contain inventories of greenhouse gas emissions and information on steps taken to implement the Convention at the national level. The Initial National Communication of Ethiopia to the UNFCCC is prepared following the guidelines of the UNFCCC for the preparation of Non-Annex I national communications.

‍This Second National Communication (SNC) has been compiled to meet Ethiopia’s obligations under the UNFCCC. It describes national progress made to implement the Convention since 1994, after the First National Communication since FNC or since 1994.

Ethiopia aims to achieve middle-income status by 2025 while developing a green economy. Following the conventional development path would, among other adverse effects, result in a sharp increase in GHG emissions and unsustainable use of natural resources. To avoid such negative effects, the government has developed a strategy to build a green economy. It is now starting to transform the strategy into action and welcomes collaboration with domestic and international partners.

NAP-ETH focuses on the sectors that have been identified as most vulnerable, namely: agriculture, forestry, health, transport, power, industry, water and urban. Within these sectors, 18 adaptation options have been identified for implementation at all levels and across different development sectors, recognizing the considerable diversity in context and vulnerability across Ethiopia‟s regions and social groups.

Ethiopia intends to limit its net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2030 to 145 Mt CO2e or lower. This would constitute a 255 MtCO2e reduction from the projected ‘business-asusual’ (BAU) emissions in 2030 or a 64% reduction from the BAU scenario in 2030. Ethiopia also intends to undertake adaptation initiatives to reduce the vulnerability of its population, environment and economy to the adverse effects of climate change, based on its Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy (CRGE).

This Climate Resilient Strategy focuses on the agricultural sector due to its importance to national income (contributing 41% of our GDP and 9 out of the top 10 export commodities) and livelihoods (employing 85% of the Ethiopian people).Other sectors will also face climate change challenges. This strategy will act as a starting point for subsequent climate resilience analysis across the remaining sectors of the economy.

The framework approach is also an adaptation strategy, by and in itself, as it is directed towards reorienting the sector towards sustainable transport and increased integration with land use development. This transition will occur through increased planning concurrency leading to improved coordination between plans, programs and a focus on multi-modal transport and accessibility planning. In this way, the Strategy positions Ethiopia to benefit from multi-modal transport synergies and cost-efficiencies while increasing the potential to realize GHG emission reduction gains.

The Climate Resilience Strategy for Water and Energy has three objectives:

• Identify the economic and social impacts of current climate variability and future climate change on water and energy in Ethiopia (The Challenge).
• Identify priorities for the water and energy sectors to build climate resilience and reduce the impact of current climate variability and climate change (The Response).
• Map the necessary steps to finance and implement measures in the water and energy sectors to build climate resilience in Ethiopia (Implementation) and deliver an integrated Climate Resilient Green Economy.