Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative is instrumental to promote peace and development, and strengthening diplomatic relationships between Ethiopia and the neighboring countries, Advisor to the Minister of Water and Energy, Mohammed Al-Arousi said.
As part of the second phase of the Green Legacy Initiative to plant 25 billion tree seedlings, Ethiopia is set to plant 500 million saplings tomorrow to break its own record of planting over 353.6 million saplings in 12 hours on July 30, 2019.
In an exclusive interview with ENA, Water and Energy Ministry Advisor Muhammad Al-Arousi said Ethiopia sees the achievement of national initiatives such as the Green Legacy Initiative and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in terms of environment protection, national consensus and peace building.
“We see what we have achieved in terms of peace and the environment we have preserved through such initiatives,” Muhammad Al-Arousi said.
According to the advisor, the Green Legacy Initiative aims to make Ethiopia and even Africa a paradise on Earth.
Similar to the GERD, the advisor observed, the Green Legacy Initiative is a strong bond between the people.
As a national project that benefits everyone in terms of protecting from the impacts of climate change and ensuring self-food sufficiency, the Green Legacy Initiative is agreed upon by everyone and is crucial in creating consensus.
The advisor stressed that the Green Legacy Initiative is being undertaken to raise awareness of its vitality to protect the environment from disasters that threaten citizens’ livelihoods and infrastructures.
Thus, Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative will help facilitate sustainable development and strengthen soft diplomacy between Ethiopia and the neighboring countries, he underscored.
According to him, the initiative aims to enhance this diplomatic role between countries that participate in preserving the African environment.
With regard to soft diplomacy with neighboring countries, the Initiative aims to strengthen diplomatic relations between Ethiopia, and neighboring countries, and raise awareness of the importance of preserving the environment, as the countries are suffering from environmental disasters that threaten the lives of Africans and the infrastructure of these countries, he added.
Ethiopia seeks to share what nature has bestowed upon it to its neighbors through the initiative.
The leaders of African countries believe that the Green Legacy Initiative undertaken by Ethiopia is important to their countries, and therefore seek to follow Ethiopia’s steps to make their country a fertile land and environmentally suitable for a decent life for citizens, he explained.
One of the benefits of the Green Legacy Initiative is that it enables the country to have food sufficiency, putting an end to natural disasters such as desertification, drought, and other natural disasters, he pointed out.
In conclusion, Muhammad Al-Arousi said the Ethiopian people should strengthen independently developing this crucial initiative that protects the environment, facilitates sustainable development and serves as a front mirror of Ethiopia.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency