Oxfam’s new Climate Finance Shadow Report for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Regional Economic Community (IGAD REC) highlights the scale of the climate funding challenge facing Ethiopia and its IGAD neighbors. The report estimates that Ethiopia requires $252.8 billion by 2030 to meet its climate commitments, coinciding with the country’s hosting of the African Aviation Summit and United Nations Air Week.

Of this total, 220.4 billion US dollars is earmarked for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while 32.4 billion US dollars is intended to finance projects that mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of climate change. The figures place Ethiopia among the most climate-financially vulnerable nations in Africa.

Oxfam flags a critical structural risk: the bulk of climate finance in Ethiopia is debt-based. Analysts caution that heavy reliance on borrowing could intensify fiscal pressures, constrain other development priorities, and complicate the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) strategy, endorsed in 2011, sets out a roadmap to achieve middle-income status while building a green economy. Its pillars include enhancing crop and livestock production, restoring forests, expanding renewable energy, and promoting energy-efficient technologies. Yet, institutional and structural gaps continue to limit the country’s capacity to mobilize and deploy climate finance effectively.