Green Legacy, the first edition of which took place in 2019, grew out of a proposal by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who stated his aim was to “address environmental challenges by promoting a green culture”.
I believe that the Ethiopian delegation should present the results of the program to reforest the country and promote regional ecological awareness, explained Million Belay, coordinator of this body, known by its English acronym AFSA.
He noted that Ethiopia has an organic farming policy and a composting policy that needs to be endorsed by the international community.
“It also needs to adapt agroecology as the best adaptation mechanism due to agriculture. That should be Ethiopia’s agenda,” he said in an interview with the national news agency.
Almost certainly, Belay said, there will be very important debates about mitigation, adaptation, remediation and financing of damage caused by the impacts of climate change, and on these issues the countries of the continent must raise our voices.
Mitigation is really invasive, especially for the west, where there are a number of companies that are only interested in increasing their prospects for oil, coal and gas, so it’s a great agenda, he said.
“Another thing is reparation, because countries in Africa like Ethiopia did not cause the climate crisis but are suffering from its consequences. For droughts, famines and floods that we suffer due to the negligence of others, we must be compensated,” he stressed.
AFSA is a broad coalition of civil society organizations that are part of the fight for food sovereignty and agroecology in Africa.
Ahmed is leading the Ethiopian delegation to COP27, officially dubbed the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The conference, which started the day before and ends on November 18, covers for the first time the financing of losses and damage in developing countries as a result of climate change.
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