Energy Transition Strategies: Ethiopia's Low-Carbon Development Pathway

October 30, 2020

This report is the third in a project on Energy Transition Strategies for Low-Carbon Development. The CSIS Energy Security and Climate Change Program hosted three workshops – one on each of our three case studies - that will be followed by white papers commissioned for each event and a synthesis report of the findings. For more information on the project, please see the project page.

Ethiopia is at the forefront of a new development paradigm. Where environmental goals were once perceived to impose limitations on industrialization and catch-up growth, Ethiopia is proactively challenging this received wisdom with innovative policy solutions and international collaboration. Since 2000, the country’s economy has expanded by a factor of five, yet the country’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are trivial. Ethiopia intends to grow without any increase in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2010 and 2030. While there are few countries that rely so little on fossil fuels as Ethiopia, it faces common challenges to low-carbon development, including rapid urbanization and an economic imperative to industrialize. This report assesses the extent to which these challenges could co-exist with a decarbonization agenda by examining policy success stories and identifying the political economy forces driving change.

This report and the white papers below are made possible by generous support from BP.