COP32 Offers Huge Opportunity for Ethiopia to Showcase Its Climate Commitments, Says FSD Africa Specialist  

Addis Ababa, December 5, 2025— The Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa Specialist said that hosting COP32 will offer Ethiopia a significant opportunity to showcase its commitments in the climate space.

In an exclusive interview, Sustainable Finance Principal Specialist at FSD Africa Cecilia Bjerborn Murai told ENA that the country was selected to host the conference due to its successful climate initiatives. 

Ethiopia's Green Legacy Initiative (GLI), launched in 2019, has garnered significant international acclaim, including recognition from the United Nations as a model for climate action and sustainable development.

The initiative recently won the FAO Award for Sustainable Forest Management and Use, highlighting Ethiopia's extensive efforts in reforestation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable land management.

Notably, the GLI's success was a key factor in the selection of Addis Ababa to host the UN Climate Change Conference, COP32, in 2027, a decision supported by strong African backing during COP30 in Brazil.

Ethiopia's COP32 hosting is "fantastic" and it will be a golden opportunity to showcase its climate leadership, says the principal specialist, citing the GLI.

Launched in 2019, the GLI has been hugely successful, with over 48 billion trees planted to date, which has led to a remarkable increase in Ethiopia's forest coverage, rising from 17.2 percent to over 23.6 percent.

For the specialist, Ethiopia's economic priorities are well aligned with what we call sustainable finance priorities, and agricultural development.

“Ethiopia's economic priorities are so well aligned with what we call sustainable finance, the priorities in agricultural development, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure.”

The principal specialist affirmed that these areas are core to addressing climate change, adaptation, and social development.

She further suggested that by the time of COP32 in 2027, Ethiopia will likely have great examples to showcase regarding its approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The GLI, tree planting and growing program is really commendable, she said, adding “natural resource management is a key aspect of ensuring we have resilience to climate change, and it also creates jobs in that space.”

Natural Resource Based Accounting (NRBA) offers governments across Africa a crucial methodology to officially recognize and integrate natural resources as tangible assets on their national balance sheets, she noted.

This development is vital as it moves beyond treating nature as a limitless public good, enabling governments to better manage, value, and track the depletion and regeneration of their environmental wealth for sustainable economic development.

The specialist noted that Ethiopia's ongoing economic transformation and reforms are setting the tone for progressive financial and capital markets. This move is crucial for attracting both African institutional capital and international investment.

Fundamentally aligned with this strategy is the GLI, which serves as a cornerstone for building a climate-resilient green economy by integrating environmental action with sustainable economic development goals, moving beyond simple tree planting to a comprehensive national movement.