Reciprocating Ethiopia’s Contribution to Global Mitigation of Climate Change

BY SOLOMON DIBABA 

On July 17, 2023, Ethiopia will embark on record tree planting of 500 million trees nationwide in a single day, which would involve the entire citizenry, members of the diplomatic community, representatives of UN agencies, all foreign nationals on duty in Ethiopia, among others.

Professor Eyasu Elias, State Minister of Agriculture told ENA that some 361, 415 hectares of land has been prepared to plant 500 million seedlings in a single day and  9,500 sites have been identified for planting the trees. According to World Bank report for 2023, 15.12% of Ethiopia’s landmass is covered by forests. It is important to recall that Ethiopian has been aggressive in planting trees for over two decades, particularly for the last five years.

The impact of climate change is visible and catastrophic. To this effect, the world leaders have held numerous climate summits, despite empty pledges or outcomes.

However, the Green Legacy Initiative of Ethiopia has transcended the numerous climate summits held thus far in a way that it has made practical steps by planting 25 billion of seedlings over the last four years. This is a significant contribution to the global effort of mitigating climate change. Hence, the Green Legacy initiative needs to be supported by the international community.

  

Three conspicuous corollaries explain the initiative: first, it is locally-induced but unquestionably global in nature. Second, the green initiative is not only about planting trees every year, but it is a unique contribution to integrated and comprehensive national and global development undertakings. Third, Ethiopia’s National Green Legacy Initiative must be augmented by a global support for maximizing the global output for resilience against the impending catastrophes of climate change.

Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative is a national undertaking in a sense that it is an offshoot of the Climate Change Resilient Green Economy Strategy that was launched in 2011 as viable alternative pathway to fossil fuel based economy which the country cannot afford. Although the green economy strategy is homegrown with clear objectives of developing a carbon free economy by 2030, it has a greater relevance for the less developed countries that are already victimized by the results of climate change and global warming.

Ethiopia has been effective in addressing the major global challenge of climate change primarily with its own resources; human power included, that certainly entails huge financial expenditure. It is therefore incumbent upon all nations, particularly those who emit billion of tons of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere, to support Ethiopia’s single handed effort to ensure the common goal of carbon free world. Over the last four years, the nation has planted 25 billion of trees; the figure will rise to 30 billion including this year’s nationwide planting.

Although the green initiative is demonstrated through tree planting, its outputs are invariably linked to the national food security initiative, environmental protection and promotion of public health and a practical tool for building peace and stability in the country through massive public participation and cross cultural integration as well as communication to ensure unity in diversity. 

The initiative is not a standalone agenda but is intrinsically linked with other development programs like Yelemat Trufat which focuses on national food security efforts and Ethiopia Tamirt (Let Ethiopia Produce Campaigns) and a number of current ecotourism projects, among others,  in Gorgora, Wonchi and Koisha, which are financed through funds raised from dining events including Dine for Sheger, Dine for the Nation and Dine for Generation initiatives.

The green initiative provides a favorable ecosystem for promoting bio-intensive community and household backyard gardening, enhancing household revenues. For instance, unemployed youth have seized the opportunity in developing rugged and degraded hillsides through planting seedlings, providing care and support  and earn their livelihoods from the proceeds.

On the other hand, the green initiative has already become part of Ethiopia’s climate diplomacy for promoting peace and friendship among African countries by replicating the best practices of the country to neighboring countries and Africa at large.

Ethiopia is among the top countries that have embarked on the production of integrated carbon free energy sources, from the national resources such as  hydropower, windfarms and geothermal resources. 

In terms of health benefits, trees provide life: clean air, and mitigate respiratory tract infections that are exacerbated by air pollution brought by emission of carbon into the air. The initiative would help to conserve indigenous herbal resources that could be used for treatment of various diseases and for medical research programs.

Ethiopia’s green initiative contributes to the promotion of food forests, for instance, fruit trees which, in many ways, are highly recommended for health.

Therefore, it must  be stressed that with the prevalence of recurrent drought and flooding brought by the EL-Nino – La Nina configuration on climate change, Ethiopia and presumably the entire Horn of Africa have huge challenges at hand that they need to tackle. Investing on Ethiopia’s climate change mitigation projects ultimately benefits the entire world.

Ethiopia has set a target to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 64 percent by 2030, the most ambitious plan to date presented to the United Nations Climate Change Conference. As noted earlier, the green initiative is a home grown climate change mitigation and adaptation mechanism which is closely linked with activities of environmental protection for the promotion of a successful watershed management structures in and around the major hydroelectric dams across the country including GERD.

Countries that have pledged to support global climate change mitigation initiatives with 100 billion USD per annum need to translate their pledges into action and support countries like Ethiopia before the devastating effects of climate change will affect the flora and fauna as well as the population in all countries, developed and less developed. 

The world must take a swift action to rolling back the effects of climate change by keeping up their pledges and supporting the genuine efforts of Ethiopia to mitigate climate change catastrophes. The world has witnessed consequences of climate change, among others, rising sea levels, floods, extreme temperature and drying up of streams. Ethiopia’s green initiative plays its part to keep the planet earth safe and it deserves unreserved support.