A UN report also asserted that Ethiopia's low level of economic development, coupled with a heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and high population growth, made the country particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
World Bulletin / News Desk
Climate change has impacted people's livelihoods in Ethiopia, a new United Nations report has found.
"Both the frequency and intensity of droughts have increased, impacting the livelihoods of people," reads the report by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), unveiled in Addis Ababa on Monday.
"At the same time, increases in flooding have also intensified the vulnerability of households in Ethiopia," it added.
The report, entitled "What does it mean for Ethiopia's development," predicted that temperatures would rise by between 0.9° and 1.1° (centigrade) by 2030, by between 1.7° and 2.1° by 2050, and by between 2.7° and 3.4° by 2080.
It went on to assert that Ethiopia's low level of economic development, coupled with a heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and high population growth, made the country particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.
"The country has experienced both warm and cool years over the last 55 years. However, the recent years are the warmest compared to the early years," the report read.
It added: "There has been a warming trend in the annual minimum temperature over the past 55 years. It has been increasing by about 0.37° every ten years."
Several officials were present at the report's launch ceremony, including Ethiopian Water, Energy and Irrigation Minister Alemayehu Tegenu and Ethiopian National Meteorology Agency General Director Fetene Teshome.
Also present were scientists and representatives of regional and international organizations, who are expected to discuss the report for the next two days.
The report followed an outreach event organized by the National Meteorological Agency in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the IPCC and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network.
"The report means a lot to Ethiopia since environmental issues get updated through research from time to time," senior environment adviser Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher said.
He added that the report's findings would help Ethiopia better tackle the environmental challenges it faces.
Berhan said Ethiopia's resilient "green economy" policy envisaged a carbon-free nation by 2025.
Minister Tegenu, for his part, said that Ethiopia's green economy strategy rested on three pillars: renewable energy, biofuels and afforestation.
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