Green Economy: Challenges of Sustainable Consumption and Production in Ethiopia

Abstract

Sustainability issues became the most common agenda of several countries around the world, due to the three nucleolus factors such as social, economic and environment. Sustainable consumption and production is among the fundamental concern of the UN SDGs. Though, Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector is at its infant stage, few industries located around urban areas, are releasing their waste into the river system. Like many other African countries, Ethiopia is suffering from climate change and environmental pollution. Cognizant of this, the Ethiopian government planned to transform the country into a middle income category with zero carbon emission by 2025 by executing the GTP and CRGE initiative. However, successful implementation of the program confronted several challenges. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify major bottlenecks related to SCP and to point out possible ways to achieve a green economy trajectory in Ethiopia. The current research paper is a qualitative study in to the SCP. Secondary data from peer-reviewed reputable journals, UN SDG 12 reports, country wide analysis on green economy, FDRE SDG reports, news release, website of Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MEFCC) and sustainability stakeholders report have been collected and analyzed. A semi-structured interview was carried out with MEFCC office personnel. Loose environmental policy enforcement at national, regional and local level, complexity in organizing SMEs structure for green, lack of knowledge and awareness regarding the impact and benefits of green economy among private industries, poor incentive package for private firms to promote environmental activities and support green economy and insufficient, unreliable and irresponsible production are among the major environmental bottlenecks that Ethiopia is facing currently.

Keywords: Sustainable consumption and production (SCP), CRGE (Climate Resilience Green Economy), Sustainable Development Goals, Green Economy

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-1-05