Ethiopia has taken an important step toward stronger climate governance with the Climate Data Portal integrated into the National Digital Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation System. Led by the Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD) with technical support from World Resources Institute, the portal brings climate-related data from key sector ministries, including the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Water and Energy and the Ministry of Agriculture, into one place, making it easier to update, verify and use.
Instead of relying on scattered spreadsheets and one-off reporting, sector ministries can now log into a single system to submit standardized climate indicators (for example, area reforested and/or afforested in million hectares; electric installed power capacity in megawatts; number of manufacturing industries transited from fossil fuel to clean energy; and area of land covered by green infrastructure and recreational areas in hectares). The portal is designed to support reporting and tracking for the Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) indicators and Nationally Determined Contributions (including NDC 3.0) as well as to provide reliable data inputs for national modeling, including Ethiopia’s Green Economy Model (GEM).
Centralizing Climate Data for Better Decisions
Climate decisions are only as strong as the data behind them. Until now, climate data in Ethiopia has often been spread across institutions, reported in different formats and updated at irregular intervals. This made it more challenging to assess national progress clearly, compare performance across sectors and respond quickly when priorities changed. The Climate Data Portal helps solve this by creating a shared system that is owned by the government and built around routine reporting. For ministries, it reduces the time spent compiling and reconciling data while improving consistency through agreed indicator definitions and required metadata. For decision-makers, it offers a clearer view of progress and gaps. For partners and practitioners, it strengthens transparency and creates a more credible evidence base to support planning, finance discussions and program design.
Key Achievements of the Climate Data Portal
The Climate Data Portal was developed through a practical, step-by-step process. MoPD and WRI worked with Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) sector ministries to agree on priority indicators, align definitions and clarify where data will come from and who will be responsible for reporting.
The portal now includes:
- A secure, role-based interface for all CRGE sector ministries to submit climate indicators
- Dashboards that display performance using charts and graphs
- An indicator module to filter, view and download data by sector, year and theme (for example, land-use change and forestry, water resources, livestock, energy, waste, urbanization and sustainable cities, climate services and disaster risk reduction, transportation and mobility, and health)
- A document library for climate strategies, policies and technical references
- Integration with Ethiopia’s Digital Planning, Monitoring and Reporting System (DPMS), which aligns the portal with existing government workflows and supports data quality checks
Together, these features turn climate data from static reports into something more useful: a living system that can be updated regularly and used to guide decisions.
The Strategic Importance of the Climate Data Portal
By providing more consistent and validated datasets, the Climate Data Portal strengthens the foundation for GEM-Ethiopia, supporting better calibration, scenario analysis and policy assessment. It also supports coordination across government by giving ministries a shared set of indicators and a common view of progress, which is especially important for CRGE and NDC implementation tracking.
What’s Next?
The next phase will focus on deepening the use and improving its functionality. Priorities include integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI), expanding sectors and indicators, strengthening dashboard features and exploring future links to subnational reporting and climate finance tracking. Continued training and support for sector ministries will also be key to ensuring regular updates and strong institutional ownership.
To learn more about WRI’s ongoing work with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Planning and Development to strengthen national climate data, modeling systems and institutional capacity, visit www.wri.org.
If you are interested in partnering with WRI to build on and expand this work, please contact [email protected].
