Ethiopia has been a champion of green initiatives spearheading efforts to combat climate change. For strings of years, the country has been engaged in massive tree planting campaigns while setting the tone for Africa on global stages regarding the global challenge.
The country every year allots a hefty amount of budget for plantation and afforestation. And green initiatives have already become an integrated scheme in the economy and a top priority of the government. Over the years, the country has doubled down on its effort to plant billions of seedlings as per consecutive green legacy campaigns.
The country’s green legacy initiative championed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also drew traction receiving formal recognition from the African Union. It was noted during the continental bloc’s last summit that Ethiopia’s green legacy initiative was recognized as exemplary and worth sharing experience with the rest of Africa.
In fact, Africa is among the hard-hit continent by climate change phenomena including drought and other natural disasters. And, addressing them requires collective action and the political will of governments which Ethiopia has been doing quite for a while now. Ethiopia has been demonstrating its ideal climate-resilient endeavor by planting billions of seedlings during the past four years.
The program is a component of the Green Legacy Initiative, which the Ethiopian Prime Minister is promoting to achieve national green environmental goals and combat the country’s effects of deforestation and climate change.
With green parks being built in different areas, the country is trying to build a green environment and economy. The government mobilizes millions of people to plant seedlings creating a sense of ownership and national sentiment for environmental protection and conservation. Tangible results have been achieved. And, its success has had a positive impact on the region as well. Ethiopia offered several of its neighbor’s high-quality seedlings of preference last year, and it intends to continue doing so in the future in an effort to foster regional cooperation and counteract the harmful consequences of climate change.
It is also to be recalled that UNDP has shared Ethiopia’s experiences with about 10 other countries and made the Green Legacy Initiative Pan-African. The leadership of the country has been showing political commitment at the highest level to rehabilitate degraded lands and restore forests through the Green Legacy Campaign and massive tree-planting campaigns.
Continuing in its efforts, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched yesterday the second phase of the Green Legacy Initiative, themed “Let’s plant our future today”.
In a social media post, the Prime Minister confirmed that the first phase of the Green Legacy Initiative was successful in which Ethiopia managed to plant 25 billion seedlings.
The premier disclosed that the country has set sights to plant another 25 billion seedlings in the second phase of the Green Legacy Initiative
“Let’s plant our future today’…this is the theme for the beginning of the second phase of the Green Legacy Initiative which we launch today Following a successful first phase in which we planted 25 billion seedlings, in the second phase Ethiopia will plant another 25billion,” added Abiy.
It should be noted that climate change is a global problem that needs global intervention. And, countries like Ethiopia should receive all necessary support for playing a part in mitigating the adverse impact of climate change. It is through collaborations among nations that SDGs goals are met and achieved.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 9 JUNE 2023
