Climate change impacts and adaptation: Ethiopia

“Water has been called the most crucial link in climate adaptation, and also the most ignored.” - Aditi Mukherji, IPCC co-author 

Hosted by Dr Tena Alamirew, Deputy Director of WLRC, the fifth webinar in our climate change and adaptation series focuses on Ethiopia.

Dr Semu Moges, University of Connecticut, explores the impacts of climate change on water resources in Ethiopia, focusing on pertinent issues in the Abbay Basin and Blue Nile Basin. Dr Semu shares how it is important to assess the whole hydrological cycle in order to understand climate change impacts on key water resource areas of Ethiopia, and that increasing variability poses the biggest challenge in both mitigation and adaptation.  

Building on Dr Semu’s overview of the impacts, Professor Woldeamlak Bewket of WLRC leads us through the history and evolution of climate change adaptation policy in Ethiopia. Professor Woldeamlak highlights the improvements made, but stresses this is not enough; more is needed in tackling key implementation challenges of technology, finance, capacity, and adoption at a grassroots level.  

Chair: Dr Tena Alamirew
Speakers: Dr Semu Moges and Professor Woldeamlak Bewket