ISLAMABAD, 25 August 2026: Ethiopia’s ambitious Green Legacy Initiative can provide valuable lessons for Pakistan as both countries confront growing climate risks, Ambassador of Ethiopia to Pakistan, H.E. Oumer Hussien Oba, said on Tuesday.Speaking at a seminar titled “Pakistan-Ethiopia Climate Resilience Cooperation: From Tree Planting to Green Jobs and Inclusive Growth,” organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in Islamabad, the ambassador called for stronger bilateral cooperation on climate resilience, agriculture, green jobs and inclusive development.
The ambassador said climate change is largely driven by human activity and that the time had come to move beyond warnings towards concrete and coordinated action. He highlighted Ethiopia’s efforts to mobilize its population under the Green Legacy Initiative, particularly in a country where around 80–85 percent of the population depends on agriculture for livelihoods.He said the initiative initially focused on achieving scale by mobilizing millions of men and women for seedling planting across Ethiopia, creating employment opportunities while addressing environmental degradation. The initiative, he added, was built around unity, collaboration and partnership, with government institutions, research organizations, academia and professionals contributing to its implementation.
The ambassador said Ethiopia’s climate action momentum since 2019 had also contributed to the country’s selection to host COP32, and Ethiopia now aimed to share the lessons of the Green Legacy Initiative with partner countries, including Pakistan.Dr. Sajid Amin Javed, Deputy Executive Director (Research) at SDPI, said Pakistan and Ethiopia shared significant challenges and opportunities despite their geographical distance. He called for greater cooperation in youth development, agriculture and climate action, noting that South-South cooperation could provide an effective framework for collaboration.Dr. Javed said SDPI’s experience in promoting South-South cooperation, including its recent work on Pakistan-Brazil relations, could provide a foundation for similar engagement with Ethiopia. He added that SDPI’s collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme could further support joint initiatives focused on youth, employment and environmental sustainability.Dr. Shafqat Munir, Deputy Executive Director (Policy) at SDPI, praised Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative, particularly its large-scale tree-planting efforts. He said Pakistan had also established strong diplomatic credentials in international climate negotiations, including its role in advancing the Loss and Damage Fund at COP27.Dr. Munir noted that Ethiopia had strongly supported Pakistan’s position on climate-related loss and damage and said SDPI was ready to provide technical assistance to the Ethiopian Embassy on bilateral climate cooperation. He added that SDPI’s engagement with regional climate networks could also support Ethiopia’s preparations for COP32.He proposed greater exchange of knowledge on floods, drought management and food-system transformation, while noting that Pakistan’s National Emergencies Operation Centre under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) could offer useful lessons to Ethiopia.Speaking online, Prof. Adefris Worku, Chair of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative Technical Committee, described the initiative as one of the world’s most ambitious nature-based interventions. Launched in 2019 in response to land degradation, deforestation and soil erosion, the initiative has targeted the planting of billions of seedlings while mobilizing millions of citizens.He said Ethiopia is now aiming for an even larger target of 60 billion seedlings, with millions of people already mobilized to plant fruit-bearing and indigenous species.
According to Prof. Worku, the programme has also generated hundreds of thousands of green jobs, while forest cover in Ethiopia has increased from 17 percent to 23.6 percent. Annual land degradation, he said, has declined from around 92,000 hectares to 30,000 hectares.He stressed that developing countries should move beyond being viewed solely as victims of climate change and instead become implementers of nature-based solutions.Arif Goheer, Executive Director of the Global Change Impact Studies Centre (GCISC), said Pakistan and Ethiopia faced several common climate vulnerabilities, including water stress, floods, food insecurity and land degradation. He proposed that the two countries collaborate at COP side events and jointly amplify the voice of climate-vulnerable developing nations, particularly on climate adaptation.Zainab Naeem, Head of Ecological Sustainability and Circular Economy at SDPI, highlighted the gender dimensions of climate change, warning that climate impacts could push an estimated 158 million women in the Global South into poverty.She noted that both Pakistan and Ethiopia had developed Climate Gender Action Plans and introduced climate budget tagging, creating opportunities for closer cooperation. She called for developing countries to adopt a united position in international climate finance negotiations, emphasizing that vulnerable nations were seeking climate justice rather than charity.Dr. Athar Hussain of COMSATS said Pakistan’s rate of temperature increase was significantly higher than the global average despite the country contributing less than one percent of global carbon emissions. He suggested that emerging approaches, including solar geoengineering research, could offer areas for scientific cooperation between Pakistan and Ethiopia.
He also highlighted the potential for collaborative research on flood mitigation, including along Ethiopia’s Akaki River, noting that both countries face significant risks associated with their subtropical climate zones.Dr. Shahid Iqbal, a water and climate expert, proposed three key pillars for Pakistan-Ethiopia cooperation: hydro-climatic modelling, nature-based solutions and women’s empowerment. He emphasized the need for joint research on flash floods and droughts and described nature-based solutions as a necessity rather than a luxury. He also highlighted women’s critical role as effective managers of water resources.The seminar concluded with a screening of a documentary showcasing Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative, presented by the Embassy of Ethiopia.
