ADDIS ABABA – The African Union (AU) praised Ethiopia’s greening drive and called on member states to plant billons of tree seedlings as it is a part and parcel of African Union’s integrated and developed Africa’s Agenda 2063.
At the event organized in connection with Ethiopian Green Legacy Day on the premises of African Union and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) yesterday, AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Josefa Leonel Correa Sacko said Ethiopia’s initiative of planting 200 millions of trees in a single day and billions in a summer is appreciable and key to deal with global warming.
“As global warming is affecting our planet and our continent, it is time to take corrective measures unless we are going to compromise the future generation and our future generation means the owner generation of the agenda 2063,” she added.
Hence, the commissioner underlined that :“ Ethiopia’s Green Legacy is a timely initiative and all 55 African countries should replicate this initiation to their own countries as African economy is mainly dependent of nature, plus protecting our nature is key to achieve Agenda 2063.”
Resilience is one of the commitments of African Heads of States given priority in the Malabo Declaration and so Africans need to build resilience and Ethiopia’s greenery is one of the actions of resilience building to mitigate the impact of climate change, she reiterated.
President of African Union Staff Association, Dr. Sabelo Mbokazi on his part stated that AU staff is excited to be part of Ethiopia’s green legacy.
He stated that this is a great action that the people of Africa can understand the importance of planting trees in their environment as AU Staff is composed of workers from all corners of the continent. “I hope Ethiopia will achieve its target to become a leading country in green economy development,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs State Minister Hirut Zemene appreciated the diplomatic crops in putting mark in Ethiopia’s Green Legacy.
She also noted on the occasion that planting trees is the simplest solution to combat global warming as world’s global warming is increasing.
It is to be recalled that Ethiopians have so far planted over three billons tree seedlings since the launch of the Green Campaign.
The Ethiopian Herald July 30/2019
BY DARGIE KAHSAY
