The evolution of environmental governance institutions in Ethiopia: A historical institutionalism perspective
埃塞俄比亚生态环境治理制度的演进 ——基于历史制度主义的分析

摘要

埃塞俄比亚历史上长期面临干旱、土地退化等生态环境问题，但生态环境治理并未处于国家治理的核心位置。1995年，埃塞俄比亚联邦民主共和国成立，生态环境治理逐渐进入埃塞俄比亚政治议程。本文引入历史制度主义分析框架，将埃塞俄比亚生态环境治理制度的形成与演进置于历史进程中进行考察。研究发现，该制度的形成并非单纯是环境压力的被动回应，而是历史遗产、政治转型与国家能力重塑三重因素共同作用的结果。1987年宪法确立的生态平衡原则虽未被有效贯彻，但在国家政权更迭后被作为规范遗产重新被激活。提格雷地方政治组织在地方治理中积累的土地保护经验，借助1991年政权更迭与1995年联邦体制的确立扩散至全国。经济社会发展与国家能力提升则为制度执行提供必要条件。此后，埃塞俄比亚沿着既有制度路径，先后出台《埃塞俄比亚环境政策》（1997）、《气候韧性绿色经济战略》（2011）及《经更新的国家自主贡献》（2021），逐步构建起涵盖环境保护、气候韧性、绿色发展的制度体系。

Abstract

Ethiopia has long been confronted with ecological challenges such as drought and land degradation, yet environmental governance remained outside the core of state governance for much of the country’s history. With the establishment of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1995, environmental governance gradually became part of the national political agenda. Drawing on historical institutionalism, this article examines the formation and evolution of Ethiopia’s environmental governance institutions in their historical context. The study finds that the emergence of these institutions was not simply a passive response to environmental pressures, but rather reflected the combined effects of historical legacies, political transformation, and the restructuring of state capacity. Although the principle of ecological balance established in the 1987 Constitution was not effectively implemented, it was subsequently reactivated as a normative legacy following the change of political regime. The land conservation practices developed by local political organizations in Tigray through local governance were extended nationwide following the political transition in 1991 and the establishment of the federal system in 1995. At the same time, socioeconomic development and enhanced state capacity provided essential conditions for institutional implementation. Building on this institutional trajectory, Ethiopia subsequently adopted the Environmental Policy of Ethiopia in 1997, the Climate-Resilient Green Economy Strategy in 2011, and an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2021, gradually developing an institutional framework encompassing environmental protection, climate resilience, and green development.