(Ecofin Agency) - Ethiopia has, since 2017, been implementing a program aimed at reducing carbon emissions in Oromia. It recently joined the UN collaborative program REDD+, which entitles it to remunerations for its carbon emission reduction efforts.

The Ethiopian Finance Ministry announced, Thursday (Feb 9), an Emission Reduction Purchase Framework Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank.

The agreement, which runs until 2029, allows for the implementation of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program. In its framework, Ethiopia could receive up to US$40 million in grants, with 80% of the amount going to participating communities. The grant will be disbursed in two phases after emissions have been reduced through forest conservation, environmentally sound land use, and livestock management.

In its release announcing the agreement, the Ministry of Finance explains that for the first phase, a specific ERPA agreement has already been signed. It runs from January 2022 to December 2024. "In this program, the communities will be rewarded for efforts to reduce carbon emissions by preventing deforestation and land and forest degradation," the release informs.

This comes about two weeks after the World Bank announced a payment of more than US$4.8 million to the Government of Ghana as its first carbon reduction payment under the ERPA framework agreement, rewarding Ghana for reducing 972,456 metric tons of carbon emissions in the first monitoring period (June to December 2019).

In Ethiopia, the ERPA is a "continuation of the Oromia Forested Landscape Project supported by the World Bank with US$ 18 million financing."

Jean-Marc Gogbeu