Recently, approximately 500 workers from various institutions under the umbrella of the National Confederation of Eritrean Workers (NCEW) conducted water and soil conservation activities in the Dembe-Zaul area. Additionally, as is common during this part of the year, students, youth groups, and others from around the country have been engaged in greening and tree planting projects. In addition to being important contributions to local development, the recent greening and conservation events provide a great opportunity to reflect on Eritrea’s broader environment-related commitments and efforts.
All people and communities are impacted, but disproportionately
First, the recent events help to shed light on the longstanding environment- and climate-related challenges faced by Eritrea. With little doubt, climate change is one of the most significant challenges ever faced by humanity. Globally, there is not a single country that is not experiencing the drastic effects of climate change. It is disrupting national economies and affecting livelihoods. According to leading scientists and organizations, weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, and extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and tropical cyclones, are increasing in frequency and intensity. This aggravates water management, reduces agricultural production and nutrition and food security, increases health risks and interrupts essential services, such as water and sanitation, energy, and education.
While climate change and its impacts affect people and nations worldwide, not all are affected in the exact same ways. The truth is that the poorest and the most vulnerable individuals and groups, especially women, children, the elderly, and persons living with disabilities, are disproportionately impacted and harmed. What is more, the deleterious impacts of climate change are felt most by those people who are least responsible for rising carbon emissions and global temperatures – particularly those within the African continent. Scholars have revealed that Africa is the most vulnerable to climate change despite being responsible for less than five percent of global carbon emissions.
For Eritrea, annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain relatively low and there are only small fluctuations per year. In 2018, GHG emissions were approximately 6.396 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2 eq.), about a 20.17 percent (or 1.073 Mt) increase from 2000 emissions and a slight decrease of 0.37 percent (or 0.0237 Mt) from 2015 emissions. Overall, the country accounts for among the smallest global shares of total global GHG emissions.
Yet, while Eritrea accounts for among the smallest shares of total GHG emissions, it remains extremely vulnerable to a diverse array of climate-related hazards, such as recurrent droughts, flooding and storms, high winds (especially within coastal areas), locust swarms, and volcanic activity. Notably, according to some longitudinal estimates, across the past 60 years the country’s average temperature has risen by approximately 1.7°C, at an average rate of 0.37°C per decade, with far-reaching consequences for and impacts upon the country’s people and communities.
Relying on a comprehensive, multipronged approach
Against the wider backdrop of climate- and environmentrelated issues briefly highlighted above, Eritrea has pursued a comprehensive, multipronged approach to promoting sustainability, protecting and preserving the environment, and positively addressing the challenges of climate change. For instance, terracing, which involves constructing ridges and channels on sloping lands, helps to promote the conservation of soil and water (recall that fertile soil and water are especially critical resources in Eritrea and throughout the wider region). It can reduce both the amount and velocity of water moving across the soil surface, which greatly reduces soil erosion and ultimately allows for more intensive cropping than would otherwise be possible. Meanwhile, water diversion, which is an ageold practice that has been employed across the world, helps to reduce water quality degradation, supply irrigation systems, promote access or effective use, and reduce or prevent widespread destruction caused by flooding. Finally, the planting of trees and the central focus on afforestation in communities across the nation is helping to capture carbon dioxide, reverse decades of deforestation, drought, and land degradation (which rapidly increased and intensified during decades of conflict), restore ecosystems, halt the rapid advance of climate change, and promote climate resilience.
Of note, following her recent official visit to Eritrea, during which she met with officials from various ministries and toured several different regions of the country, Reena Ghelani, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Climate Crisis Coordinator for the El Niño Response, declared that she was, “Impressed by what I saw in Eritrea,” and that “There is a lot to learn from the way [the Eritrean] government and partners are investing to protect the environment and build community resilience.”
A range of indirect benefits and positive outcomes
The efforts and initiatives listed above represent significant and positive steps towards achieving Eritrea’s various environment- and climate-related goals. But that’s not all. In addition, they provide a range of substantial, albeit frequently overlooked, benefits. For example, the efforts and initiatives, implemented by diverse groups of individuals and groups coming together nationwide (such as the workers under the NCEW), help to keep participants actively involved and positively engaged within their local communities and also allow them to closely connect with the natural world, all the while offering useful lessons, new insights, and unique experiences.
Second, through exposing individuals, especially students and young people, to nature and allowing them to be active in an outdoor setting, these activities can also play a positive role in fostering sensitivity, appreciation, and respect for the environment and natural world. Notably, there is a large – and still growing – body of empirical research from settings around the world that indicates how increased environmental knowledge or general awareness is closely linked with environmental friendliness and conservation behavior, while greater exposure to nature and the outdoors may provide a variety of cognitive, behavioral, and health benefits.
Not to be overlooked, of course, is how these various campaigns are not only “good” for the environment, but also positive for the communities themselves. Specifically, in the process of bringing together diverse groups of people from all segments of Eritrean society in order to work toward a common goal, the community initiatives can also have a powerful influence on fostering peace, unity, and cohesion. In particular, exposure to and interaction among diverse individuals and groups can promote openness to alternative views or perspectives and strengthen mutual understanding, trust, tolerance, and harmony
