The World Bank and United Nations Statistics Division conducted a training on 20th of December 2022 for Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) focal points, contact persons as well as data custodians in Ethiopia. The training is part of the Ethiopian NCA initiative which aims is to help institutionalize NCA approaches in decision making by helping government agencies to acquire, maintain and update data and information on natural capital. 

The initiative is one of the programs of Ethiopia’s Resilient and Green Development Advisory Services and Analytics (RGD-ASA) under the Environment, Natural Resources & Blue Economy program of the World Bank. The RGD ASA focuses on deepening knowledge and strengthening capacity to support climate resilient and low-carbon growth in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s NCA initiative aims to build a robust information system for natural capital to inform national priorities and policies including the Climate Resilient Green Economy agenda, implementation of a ten-year development plan and Ethiopia’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and World Bank-supported landscape management projects.

During the training, participants were introduced to the System of Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA), and on how to identify data needs for compiling accounts, their policy applications and potential sources. In addition, participants were introduced to ecosystem-based investment prioritization tools for sustainable land management. A discussion was also held on the establishment of Technical Working Groups (TWGs) to lead the development of accounts and for ecosystem services modeling and scenario analysis.

Speaking at the training, Ross Hughes, World Bank Senior Natural Resource Management Specialist said: “The objective of the training workshop is in line with Ethiopia’s NCA initiative aim to support and institutionalize NCA approaches by using the data in the design and implementation of development policies, programs and projects.” 

He emphasized the importance of engaging in the planned TWGs for the account development and investment prioritization tool development.

Welcoming and recognizing all participants and institutions represented, Dawit Woubishet Mulatu from the World Bank highlighted the workshop as one of the several capacity building programs planned to enhance learning and knowledge exchange in their account development journey.