Ethiopia Plans $150 Billion in Spending Including Carbon Cuts

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia is planning to spend $150 billion over two decades on economic development, including investments to lower the country’s carbon emissions, according to a government document.

“There is a convergence of what the economy needs in terms of growth and what is also best for ensuring that we have an economy that is resilient to climate change,” said Newai Gebre- ab, economic adviser to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

The Horn of Africa nation plans to keep its carbon-dioxide emissions at 150 million metric tons by 2030, the same as its current rate, according to the government’s Green Economy Strategy document. Without the green investments, the rate would be 400 million tons, it said. The savings may be worth as much as $3.6 billion a year by 2030 in carbon-trading credits partly based on prices for the European Union’s emissions permits, according to the document.

Initial plans to reduce emissions include changing farming methods, planting trees to halt deforestation, and introducing fuel-efficient stoves for cooking, according to the document.

“We will shift from using animal power for agricultural work towards mechanized power,” said Newai, who heads the committee that prepared the strategy document.

Ethiopia needs an additional $1 billion per year over the same period develop its hydroelectricity-dominated power industry, the document showed. Funds will come from increasing electricity prices and foreign sources such as businesses and sovereign-wealth funds.

--Editors: Emily Bowers, Hilton Shone.