Just like many African countries, Ethiopia has always been vulnerable to continuous climate change that has become one of the most common hazards of the modern world. Tens of decades of misuse of the Earth’s resources have created the extra warming of the atmosphere and altered the normal and natural cycle of the climate.
The twentieth century, and very recently with the vast expansion of the world’s economy and its industrialization, has resulted in the immense emission of gas to the environment, heating it. The temperature of the earth, a scientist have determined, has reached unsustainable limits, and with the current pace, it can only lead to disaster, putting at risk of extinction the entire human race.
Already the climate aberrations are in front of our eyes, with the seasons changing constantly and droughts more regular and frequent than ever before, damaging particularly societies like ours that rely for their food security on rain-fed agriculture. This applies to many other countries of the global south, which are highly vulnerable to these changes. The well-advanced countries may not rely on agriculture, but they also have vast irrigation facilities that can resolve the climate aberrations.
But they, too, are vulnerable to the continuously changing climate. More than at any time in the past, the levels of temperature have reached extreme numbers, and the results are alarming. Thousands of people have been directly impacted by the extreme climate, and many have even expired due to these aberrations. Especially vulnerable are the elderly and people with perennial health conditions. Besides, there have been so many wildfires due to the extreme heat and the drying of the forests and grass and vegetation. There have been enormous damages to people’s lives and livelihoods.
Moreover, when there were rains, they were so excessive that they resulted in extreme cases of flooding and inundations. The consequences have been what we have seen on our TV screens and in the media. This has happened even in our own backyards.
Scientists have been warning that things should take another turn, or the catastrophic results are imminent. That was why various efforts have been exerted by every country that has admitted that things could not continue as before. Environmentalists have been campaigning with this in mind, and the so-called climate-resilient economies have been developed. Many countries are being led by the principle that they should put their economic plans into place, taking into account the state of the effects on the climate.
Every year there have been successive conferences that are intended to update the climate change developments. Countries have pledged to observe the targets that have been put at the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Ethiopia has been actively engaged in trying to reduce the negative impact of climate change by adopting new economic policies that are in conformity with the targets of developing a climate-resilient economy.
If every country in the world, particularly the biggest economies which are principally responsible for this phenomenon of climate aberration, adopt the scrupulously responsible usage of resources in a way to reduce gas emissions, the results would be encouraging.
One of the principal developments regarding the commitments of Ethiopia to do its part for the reduction of climate change has been the introduction of The so-called Green Legacy Initiative.
If there is anything that this government could be characterized with is its relentless advocacy for greening Ethiopia. It is something that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been indissolubly identified with because you can observe how much passion and commitment he has to re-green Ethiopia with this campaign of putting in action the Green Legacy Initiative.
Since 2019, when the initiative was first launched, there have been more than forty billion tree seedlings planted, including a good percentage of plants that are priceless for reducing the risks of food insecurity in the country. Hence, the Green Legacy Initiative is not only about planting tree seedlings that serve only to cover the land with forests, but also planting fruits such as avocado, mangoes, and papayas, among others, and these fruits could even be part of the country’s export items.
This huge campaign has contributed too many changes in Ethiopia. First of all, it has contributed to raising the awareness of nationals that they should keep the environment green and clean so that we can maintain the richness of the country. People are now more than conscious about the consequences of what has been done to deforest the country, which was once as much as forty percent. But after decades of extensive deforestation without replacing the trees that have been felled, the country has risked becoming a desert.
Ethiopia was once reputed to be a green country, given its moderate climate with a sizable quantity of yearly rain. It was also identified with its famous rivers, such as the Blue Nile and the Awash. But across many decades, with the population pressure, the construction of millions of houses, and the making of so much furniture for these homes where people needed to live, countless trees were felled and vast areas of land were uprooted to make way for the construction of the habitats for the ever-increasing number of people.
Hence, vast plots of land have been deprived of their vegetation, trees, and other plants. The results have been disastrous because there was tremendous erosion and the soil was wasted. The hills of the country were continuously denuded by the rivers and torrents that flow every moment, particularly during the rainy season. Drought became a regular phenomenon every few years, and farmers were deprived of their subsistence. There has been little food security, and the consequences have been dreadful. Many have been uprooted from their farmland because of the scarcity of crop production. The trend of migration to cities has multiplied over the years, contributing to the vast number of unemployed people in urban areas. A sort of crisis has hence been developing over the decades.
In this regard, one can say that the Green Legacy Initiative is also about creating employment for thousands of unemployed people to embark upon nurturing tree seedlings in billions and transporting them to the sites where they would be planted, mainly during the main rainy season.
It is now six years this campaign has been going on and everything has been proceeding according to the initial plan. People have reacted positively and enthusiastically and practically everyone has been involved in the process. There have been certain days which have been exclusively reserved to carry out the planting of trees.
Citizens have seen the prime minister planting trees along with his cabinet ministers and all government high officials setting the example. The mass media has been very much involved in the process and people have heeded the call of their premier and their leaders. Even foreign heads of state and government who have come to visit Ethiopia have been invited to take part in planting trees in memory of their visit.
At the same time citizens have been urged to take part in these activities in their respective localities as they have consistently done during the past years.
It has now become a regular occurrence for Ethiopians to engage in this yearly activity during the main rainy season but also other seasons because they have come to realize that this is not an activity that can be carried out successfully without the large participation of millions of citizens conscious that what they are doing is fulfilling their responsibilities to conserve the biodiversity of the country and allow their children to inherit a green Ethiopia.
Not only that, but they have come to realize they should also refrain from carrying out anti-environment activities such as indiscriminate felling of trees and using too much wood for fuel and other ventures that would tend to contribute to the aggravation of the current predicament of climate change that has become a worldwide alarm.
Not so long ago, we saw here many people being displaced or even taken away by floods from their habitations due to overflowing rivers that broke the banks. We have seen more and more incidents of wildfire spreading in the world, particularly in countries such as Australia, the US, Canada, Europe, and other countries, due to the overheating of the air and the windy conditions that aggravate the situation.
Millions of acres of forests have been destroyed, and thousands of houses have been burnt down to ashes. Many lives have been lost to the fire. These conditions have also deeply affected the animals living in these areas. In the overheating of the seas, many islands risk drowning with the populations living there and they say they have nowhere to go. States that are adjacent to the seas also risk being inundated by the swelling seas.
Cognizant of this fact, the rich countries were asked to contribute to a jackpot from which the poorer southern countries would have the opportunity to adhere to the exigencies the United Nations put as a responsibility of all countries. That was the origin of the fund intended to cover the losses and damages these poor countries were condemned to suffer from for decades due to the impact of climate change.
Ethiopia’s positive efforts in this direction have been hailed by every environmentalist and activist as commendable and an example for other nations. The efforts of Ethiopia, launched in the form they have been and championed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his administration, have obtained the commendation of many. Others have followed his example in millions. It should be reiterated that the phenomenon of climate change is a global challenge and needs global action.
That is why there have been yearly ‘Conferences of Parties, or COPs, to supervise and decide at what stage of accomplishment the plans and targets have been realized.
As an example for other nations, the Ethiopian prime minister has been awarded a prize for his efforts. Ethiopia has been recognized as one of the first countries to adopt the policy of implementing a climate-resilient economy by using only hydropower, geothermal energy, solar power, and wind power. The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, GERD, can also be cited as one instance of this policy.
The recently introduced Corridor Development Project has been hailed for greening the cities with various sorts of vegetation. There is no doubt that if we continue with this pace, Ethiopia will be green once again and reduce the bad effects of climate change, but to make real lasting progress in this respect, we need to see the whole world act together in unison and go beyond unfulfilled promises and not engage in sheer rhetoric.
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 18, July 2025
