Norway Committed to Supporting Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative: Ambassador Christensen
Addis Ababa-Norway has praised Ethiopia for its impressive achievement in green legacy initiative and affirmed commitment to supporting the initiative.
Recall that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Outstanding African Leadership Award in recognition of the Green Legacy Initiative this month.
As the global community continues to be confronted with the adverse effects of climate change, Ethiopia chose to undertake bold and practical solutions to address the issue.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Norway’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Stian Christensen said it is important to strongly recognize Ethiopia’s commitment to protect the climate and environment over many years.
Citing that Ethiopia plays an important role as the water tower not just for its country but for the region, the ambassador added that the Green Legacy Initiative by the prime minister is one of the many impressive efforts.
Four years into the implementation of the Green Legacy Initiative, Ethiopia mobilized 25 million Ethiopians across the nation to plant 25 billion seedlings, equivalent to 250 seedlings per Ethiopian.
Ambassador Christensen further noted that the starting point is that Ethiopia itself is doing impressive work that has been done for many years.
Globally, Norway has been trying to support countries in preserving their environment, particularly forests for example, he said.
Accordingly, “we are working with Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the Prime Minister to support their works in preserving our environment, preserving our forests and enabling agriculture without jeopardizing Ethiopia’s position as a water tower.”
But Norway’s support is just complementary to the nation’s impressive efforts in the area, he said. stressing that Ethiopia’s move in green initiative is rewarding.
“This is actually the area I found the most rewarding. Simply because Ethiopia is so professional in this area and I find that our modest support is complementary to your own Ethiopian efforts.”
In his acceptance statement for the Outstanding African Leadership Award, PM Abiy said the initiative is “Ethiopia’s significant contribution to the global climate change mitigation efforts.”
Building on this success, the country plans to restore additional 22 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, it was learned.
Source: Ethiopia News Agency