The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate is a major new international initiative to analyse and communicate the economic benefits and costs of acting on climate change. The Commission’s work is being conducted by a global partnership of leading research institutes including the host of the EfD Center in Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Development Research Institute, as well as the Global Green Growth Institute.
These organisations have organised a half-day event to launch the Commission's inaugural report on 16 September 2014 in Addis Ababa. His Excellency Belete Tafere, Minister of the Environment and Forest, and His Excellency Ato Newai Gebre-Ab, Executive Director of the Ethiopian Development Research Institute will host. The report will simultaneously launch in New York and Oslo.
Among the attendants are EfD Ethiopia Center Director Dr. Alemu Mekonnen, EfD Director Gunnar Köhlin and Dr. Haileselassie Medhin, Research Associate to EfD-Ethiopia.
In connection with the launch these EfD representatives will also meet with the Executive Director of the Ethiopian Development Research Institute His Excellency Mr. Newai Gebre-Ab, and the Research Director of GGGI, Professor Lee Myung Kyoon.
“We will discuss how we can work together in supporting Ethiopia’s climate change related policies and strategies with research,” Dr. Haileselassie Medhin says.
Chaired by former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón, the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate comprises former heads of government and finance ministers and leaders in the fields of economics and business.
Research conducted in Ethiopia is a crucial part of this international initiative and is produced in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Environment and Forest.
Ethiopia pioneered in Africa by launching a strategy for a Climate Resilient Green Economy in 2011. EfD Center Director and Senior Researcher of EEPFE Dr. Alemu Mekonnen represented the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI) in the development of this strategy along with other researchers and expertsThe Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, and its flagship project The New Climate Economy, have been set up to help governments, businesses and society make better-informed decisions on these crucial issues. The project is being undertaken by a global partnership of research institutes http://newclimateeconomy.net/content/research-partners and a core team led by Programme Director Jeremy Oppenheim. An Advisory Panel of world-leading economists, chaired by Lord Nicholas Stern will carry out an expert review of the work.
The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate was commissioned by seven countries – Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Norway, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom – as an independent initiative to report to the international community.
The commission works with a number of other institutions in various aspects of the research programme, including the World Bank and regional development banks, the International Monetary Fund, International Energy Agency, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations agencies and a variety of other research institutes around the world.
More information: http://newclimateeconomy.net