The beginning of the new tree planting season as part of the Green Legacy Initiative that was first initiated in June 2019 by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed started a few days ago in an official launching ceremony. The planting activities for this rainy season a few days ago have seen the participation of virtually every high government official and the top officials of the government including, the deputy premier and heads of administration of the various regional states. 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 five years.
It has now become a regular occurrence for Ethiopians to engage in this yearly activity during the main rainy season but also during 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 for the aggravation of the current predicament of climate change that has become a worldwide alarm.
In the documentary film that was premiered in Addis a few weeks ago in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the progress Ethiopia has made in the afforestation of the country by planting more than thirty billion tree seedlings within the framework of the Green Legacy Initiative has been stated. On the same occasion, it was stated that more than seven billion tree seedlings would be planted this year. In the next two years, the plan of reaching the fifty billion mark will be attained.
On the occasion the report that has also revealed that the coverage of greenery in Ethiopia increasing to more than 23% in 2023 growing up from the estimated 17% in 2019 has been underlined. Clearly, the impact of this result shows a sizeable progress in the country’s efforts to reverse the dangerous tendency of further deprivation of the country of its vegetation by indiscriminate and irresponsible human activities.
With the population of the country increasing by leaps and bounds in the last decades, it was inevitable that more human activities that affect negatively the condition of the environment were carried out. Trees have been felled to satisfy the many day-to-day lives of this huge population. New houses had to be constructed to accommodate the people, the intense consumption of wood fire as a source of fuel has increased and with more factories being planted and more usage of fossil fuel to run them has sharply gone up with all its negative consequences on the climate.
Furthermore, the need for more land for farming and grazing has also contributed to this tendency as it was contributing to deforestation activity. Across several decades these activities have been carried out without hardly any meaningful intervention by state authorities to reduce the activities within reasonable bounds. We can say that there was probably little consciousness on the part of the authorities in government about the dangerous impact on the environment coupled with other similar simultaneous activities throughout the world.
Scientists have been pressing against such a state of affairs in the world. They have carried out their research and concluded that with such human activities intensifying in virtually every country across the globe, particularly in the more industrialized world, the contribution of these activities to the heating up of the atmosphere and the result would lead to the warming up of the seas and put in danger the lives of all those who live in lowlands adjacent to the seas. We have seen many times, particularly in the past few years how these consequences have impacted many countries causing catastrophes. The urgent call of these academics has also intensified over the years and the subsequent so-called Conference of Parties carried out every year since two decades ago has been trying to halt these developments.
At the Paris Conference on Climate in 2015, it was agreed that the only way to stem the tide of the tragic development of climate change was by decreasing the temperature of the atmosphere to a pre-industrial level of 1.5 degrees centigrade. This objective could be reached only by reducing the usage of fossil fuels and using clean energy for our lives. It was agreed to prepare a plan of action in every country, particularly in the most developed north and follow closely the progress on a yearly level.
This year COP 29 will be held Baku in Azerbaijan from November 11 to 22. Here countries will have the opportunity to present their actions and the results obtained based on the schedule of the previous conferences as a follow-up. In this regard, Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative and its adoption of a policy of green economy have been remarked and commended. On these occasions, the developed countries were made to pledge sufficient funds for the poorer nations, particularly in the African continent to cope with the expenses that a resilient green economy, doing without utilizing fossil fuel and replacing it with other alternatives such as hydroelectricity, geothermal power and solar and wind. For that to be realized these countries would need lots of finance because they cannot cope with this crisis.
Cognizant of this fact, the rich countries were asked to contribute to a jackpot from where 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 had to suffer for decades due to the impact of climate change.
It was found out that with the huge gas emissions that have been consistently released into the atmosphere by these countries in the industrialization process, extensive damages have been incurred by the environment and this in turn has resulted in climate change. Research has shown changes in the cycle of the seasons have resulted in climatic aberrations damaging particularly the developing countries in the south that rely on seasonal rains for their survival and food security. With frequent droughts, farmers have been led to despair in need of food watching helplessly their harvest being destroyed or complete lack of water to nurture the crops they have planted.. Besides, this phenomenon has also impacted plants and animals creating huge disarray in the biodiversity and general ecosystem.
We have noted that in the past few years alone so many climatic disasters in multiple forms, from drought due to scarcity of rains to inundations, from storms to wildfires with catastrophic consequences particularly in the less developed countries that lack the facilities to cope with such man-made disasters have occurred. There is a huge need for finance to develop the system and have the means to fight and cope with these aberrations. We have experienced the flooding that incessant rains for days, at times for months, have caused inundations with extensive losses of life not to mention the complete devastation of many villages and communities.
We have seen many have not even been accounted for in the muddy waters, especially in certain vulnerable areas that are prone to floods. 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 thousands of houses burnt down to ashes and many lives have at least been disrupted if not lost. These conditions have also affected deeply 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.
Similarly, the melting of the icebergs in the poles of the earth risks increasing the waters of the rivers, oceans and seas beyond limits Multiple African countries have been affected by these phenomena just recently such as in the East African region including Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, Sudan and Mozambique to just cite a few. Disasters have also taken place in the US, Pakistan and the Caribbean countries particularly susceptible to cyclones and storms more frequently than ever. Record temperatures have been registered every year things going from bad to worse and heatwaves have taken so many lives. Just recently we remember the disaster that took place among the Moslem faithful who were in Mecca, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for their yearly religious celebrations and rituals.
Consequently, there have been frequent international conferences on what to do to halt this tendency of the overheating of the earth due to gas emissions provoked by the huge industrial complexes of largely the developed nations along with the millions of vehicles running in all their cities, the large scale constructions everywhere felling trees and clearing areas for the various needs of their populations. A target has been placed to reduce the heat of the atmosphere to the lowest possible limits with the reduction of the use of fossil fuel to the least amount and in the long run to abandon it totally and decrease the gas emissions.
Side by side a huge campaign of greening the environment was also advised and countries such as Ethiopia have been championing this cause investing a huge sum of money for this purpose. At the same time, there is a campaign demanding the developed and industrialized nations to redress the harm caused to poor countries because their lives have been disrupted due to what they have done to cause climate change. Here it was found out that the contribution of the poor south to this phenomenon has been minimal compared to the economic giants.
Acknowledging their guilt they have earmarked a certain jackpot of money to be handed over to the poorer nations so that they can cope with this tragic development but environmentalists warn that the efforts are not adequate and the increase in temperature has been increasing despite the rhetoric, They insist vigorous action should be taken today without prevarication alleging economic or other excuses. The commitment to fulfil promises must be taken seriously or the efforts to rescue our earth will fail. The various extensive projects and endeavours that are advised by scientists must be carried out. Scientists have warned that before it is too late more earnest changes must be introduced in the way we conduct our lives.
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 have been launched in the form they have and have been championed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his administration. Others have followed his example in millions. 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 of the plans and targets have been realized. Last year it was at Dubai, this year it will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan and Ethiopia will have the opportunity to present the progress it has made sharing it with other countries.
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
The Ethiopian Herald July 7/2024
