By Wallace Mawire recently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
As part of its Green Legacy Initiative (GLI), anchored by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia this year is reported to have planted a record-breaking 714.7 million tree seedlings on a single day in July 2025, under the theme “Renewal Through Planting,” according to Engineer Lelise Neme, Director General, Ethiopian Environment Protection Authority for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) in a keynote address at the launch of the State of Africa’s Environment 2025 Report in Addis Ababa on 17 to 19 September,2025 by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) based in India.
Engineer Neme said at the launch that the 2025 planting campaign was part of an annual target to plant 7.5 billion trees, with a long-term aim to reach 54 billion seedlings by 2026 in a five year programme.
‘This is an African model of climate adaptation,” she told Journalists from Africa, government officials and other experts, including from CSE in lndia.
She said Ethiopia’s climate adaptation efforts focus on strengthening climate resilience through its National Adaptation Plan (NAP-ETH), which integrates adaptation into its development strategies like the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE).
She extended sincere appreciation to the organizers of the meeting, the Alliance for Science – Ethiopia, Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA), Kenya and particularly the Center for science and Environment (CSE), India for making the gathering a reality.
“This is because, the promoting and ensuring the protection and conservation of the environment as a valuable asset for the people of Ethiopia, is the key mandate of Ethiopian Environment Protection Authority (EPA),” Neme said.
She said their mission is to protect their people and the environment from harmful effects of Pollution, Climate change and Biodiversity loss.
“At this point in time, discussing and working on issues of climate and environmental protection is extravagance, but it is a matter of existence and way of life,” Neme said.
She said scientific evidences are constantly telling them that climate change is disproportionately impacting the continent Africa due to increased extreme weather events that devastate agriculture, infrastructure, and livelihoods.
Neme said impacts of climate change including droughts and floods, leading to crop failure, food insecurity, and economic losses are usually caused by rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns.
She said according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 16 out of 19 hunger hotspots in 2025 are in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Sahel, with up to 56% of the population in South Sudan and Sudan affected by acute food insecurity.
She added that over 115 million people faced acute food insecurity in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Sahel in 2025 due to environmental factors exacerbated by conflict.
According to Neme, in Africa, the most vulnerable populations to climate change and pollution are particularly people living in remote rural areas and informal settlements as well as other sections of society – women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and those living in poverty.
She said well aware these facts, Ethiopia’s constitution incorporates a number of provisions the right to a clean and healthy environment and the right to sustainable development, protection, sustainable use, and improvement of the country’s environment.
She said too ensure the constitutional provisions, their Authority undertakes various coordination activities to ensure that the environmental objectives provided under the constitution are fully realized and to establish effective systems and monitoring instruments to achieve our goals.
They are also mandated to formulate or initiate and coordinate the formulation of strategies, policies, laws and standards as well as procedures and up on approval monitor and enforce their implementation as well as the development of mechanisms that promote social, economic and environmental justice.
Neme said when it comes to climate change and pollution, the country Ethiopia wants to pursue not only the narratives of challenges and skepticism, but climate solution and adaptation.
She said at the recent second Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in Addis Ababa, African leaders in their Declaration called to “strengthened and sustained support to scale up the implementation of the African led climate initiatives including the Ethiopian Green Legacy Initiative.
“I hope as African will continue to spotlights African solutions and adaptation mechanism also in the time to come including during the upcoming 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties, COP30, to be held in Belém, Brazil,” Neme said.
She said that it is her conviction that “The State of Africa’s Environment 2025 Report” that was launched would remain to be a vital instrument to documents Africa’s environment and climate changes stories and inform our policies and laws.
“I know that Africa and India share communalities and have mutual interests in the global climate change debates,”she said.
“Therefore, once again, I want to thank the Center for science and Environment (CSE), India, for this wonderful annual report that reflects these commonalities,”Neme said.
