Ethiopia’s environmental federalism: problems and prospects an analysis in comparative perspective

Abstract

Ethiopia is a federal state located in the horn of Africa. The Constitution has assignedlegislative, executive and judicial powers to the federal and regional Governments.1The main objective of this study is, therefore, to find out whether the decentralization of governmental powers between the national and the state governments of Ethiopia is also reflected in the decentralization of functional competences concerning environment related matters. In other words, this study attempts to determine whether Ethiopia is environmentally federal state, the extent and the possible shortcomings of the environmental federal structure. With this basic aim or objective in mind, in the study attempts will be made to see how the Constitution allocates the powers regarding environment among the federal, state, and local governments. To that effect, the role of the federal, the State and the local governments regarding the setting of environmental standards, pollution control and EIA will critically be analyzed. The match or the mismatch of the role of the federal as well as the state governments with their capacity will be investigated. Comparisons with selected legal systems will also be made for the purpose of identifying the practice of other systems in specific environmental matters selected for comparisons.