Concluding Workshop on Green Economy in Ethiopia Happens

The final workshop on ‘interaction of industrial policy and green economy in Ethiopia’ deliberated on various aspects of green economy. Project background, benchmarking results, analysis of systems of innovation, governance and policy analysis, policy gaps and pulling together findings as well as cases from Asia were areas where presenters from Ethiopian Development Research Institute in cooperation with University College London, University of Reading, and Quantum Global Research Lab shared findings and prospects. The workshop was organized by these three bodies and the event took place at Hilton Addis on March 14, 2017.

The project was kicked off on May 4, 2015 and a lot of work has been done since then, it was disclosed. The aim of the green economy project is to deepen understanding on the issue with concrete purpose to streamline climate resilient green economy (CRGE) in industry policy and practice, says Professor Yakob Mulugeta of University College London.

The project focused on three sectors: cement, leather and textile. These sectors have been selected, among other things, because they are key priorities for structural transformation, their high growth potential, and high pollution potential.

Climate resilient green economy and industry strategy are not met. Information from universities and research centers is poorly linked. This is a policy area to make findings of researches directly applicable in industry. Ethiopian green innovation needs to be streamlined, interaction among innovation system actors needs to be facilitated, mix of economic incentives and environmental regulations be implemented, it was underlined.