Evaluating Ethiopia’s Environmental Management Strategy: Does It Support Green Growth?

Ethiopia has pursued a manufacturing-led development strategy since the early 2000s, achieving substantial growth and poverty reduction. However, little attention is paid to the environmental costs of these results. Relying on the review of environmental policies and on 22 in-depth interviews with public and private stakeholders, we assess whether the existing command-and-control approach to environmental management is delivering on its promises, and whether there is scope for deploying environmental taxes. Our analysis demonstrates that, despite the implementation of a variety of regulatory measures, environmental management in Ethiopia is substantially ineffective. This is due to a combination of institutional instability, a lack of technical resources at the environmental protection authority, and to the low level of political priority of environmental protection. In this context, a switch to a market-based approach to environmental management would be ineffective, as the lack of political will to enforce environmental regulations is the real issue.