No time for scepticism, “decisive climate action” needed, Ethiopia tells U.N.

22 September 2017 (United Nations) – Like many other countries, Ethiopia is dealing almost every day with the adverse impacts of climate change, its Prime Minister told the United Nations General Assembly today, urging decisive action by the international community.
“Now is not the time to doubt the devastating impacts of climate change while millions of our fellow humans are losing their lives and their hard-won development achievements,” Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said during the annual high-level debate.
“This is high time to act – and act urgently and decisively – to combat the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly its disproportionate adverse effect on the most vulnerable countries, which – as it has been repeatedly stated – bear almost no responsibility in causing climate change,” he added.
He noted that Ethiopia successfully dealt with the El Niño-induced drought in 2015, but is again facing the adverse impact of climate change.
While expressing appreciation to bilateral and multilateral partners for support, he said Ethiopia will continue to implement its national strategy of building a green and resilient economy.
As the President of the Security Council this month, he said, Ethiopia welcomed the unanimous adoption of the draft resolution it tabled on Wednesday. Through the resolution, the 15-member body reaffirmed its determination to pursue more prioritisation when evaluating, mandating and reviewing peacekeeping operations.
“As one of the leading troop contributing countries, Ethiopia attaches great importance to strengthening the role of United Nations peacekeeping to address challenges to international peace and security,” he said.

No time for scepticism, ‘decisive climate action’ needed, Ethiopia tells UN