Addis Ababa, November 9, 2026 (FMC) – The planet is sending distress signals. Forests are disappearing, landscapes are drying, rivers are under pressure and extreme weather is unsettling the delicate balance that sustains life.
Climate change is no longer a distant warning; it is an unfolding crisis, threatening livelihoods, food systems, ecosystems and the future of generations yet to come.
Against this troubling backdrop, Ethiopia has chosen to answer a global challenge with a homegrown undertaking of extraordinary scale: the Green Legacy Initiative.
What began as a national tree-planting campaign has grown into a record-breaking environmental movement, placing nature restoration at the heart of the country’s development vision.
Since its launch in 2019, the initiative has mobilized millions of citizens and seen more than 56 billion seedlings planted.
This is more than a remarkable number. It represents a nationwide commitment to repair damaged ecosystems, restore the country’s natural wealth and make environmental stewardship a shared responsibility.
Its significance lies in what those seedlings are intended to become: forests that absorb carbon, protect biodiversity, stabilize fragile soils, conserve water and help communities withstand the growing pressures of a changing climate.
The initiative is helping restore degraded landscapes and strengthen the natural systems on which agriculture, livelihoods and ecological balance depend. Ethiopia’s forest cover increased from 17.2 percent in 2019 to 23.6 percent in 2023, reflecting progress in the country’s restoration efforts.
The Green Legacy is also a response to the understanding that environmental protection cannot be separated from human development. A restored watershed means better protection for water resources. Healthy soil supports agricultural productivity.
Fruit trees and agroforestry can strengthen food security and create livelihood opportunities. Forest restoration, therefore, is not simply about bringing back trees; it is about renewing the foundations of life and economic activity.
What makes the initiative particularly distinctive is its homegrown character. It draws on a philosophy of collective responsibility, national ownership and action rooted in local capacity. Millions of Ethiopians, from communities and schools to public institutions and the private sector, have taken part in the annual planting campaigns.
Environmental restoration has become a shared national undertaking rather than a responsibility left solely to specialists or institutions.
This approach carries a message of its own: countries do not have to wait for the world to act before beginning to heal their environments. International cooperation and climate finance remain essential, particularly for developing countries bearing the disproportionate costs of a crisis they contributed relatively little to creating.
Yet Ethiopia’s experience demonstrates the power of mobilizing domestic resources, knowledge and public participation to deliver climate action on a national scale.
The initiative’s influence is increasingly extending beyond Ethiopia’s borders. Through the sharing of seedlings, expertise and practical experience with fellow African countries, Ethiopia is taking its restoration efforts into the wider continental climate agenda.
Youth exchanges under the Plant Africa Fraternity Initiative, including engagements in Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria, are extending this cooperation through knowledge-sharing and environmental action.
This regional dimension matters. Across Africa, climate change, land degradation, desertification and water stress cross national boundaries, demanding responses that go beyond individual countries.
The restoration of landscapes, protection of watersheds and expansion of climate-resilient agriculture are shared priorities.
By making its experience available to other countries, Ethiopia is contributing to a wider African effort to build resilience through homegrown solutions and South-South cooperation.
The initiative is also attracting international cooperation. A project supported by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Environment Facility is building on Green Legacy practices to strengthen ecosystem-based adaptation, restore degraded landscapes and improve the resilience of smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities.
Such partnerships demonstrate how nationally driven action can connect with international support to deliver wider environmental and livelihood benefits.
Yet the true measure of this undertaking will not rest on the number of seedlings planted alone. It will be found in the forests that mature, the landscapes that recover, the biodiversity that returns and the communities that benefit.
Sustained care, locally appropriate species, effective monitoring and long-term ecosystem management are indispensable to ensuring that today’s planting becomes tomorrow’s lasting restoration.
As the world gathers for COP31 in Türkiye, Ethiopia’s Green Legacy offers a compelling contribution to the global climate conversation. It brings to the table an experience built on mass public participation, national commitment and the conviction that environmental recovery can advance alongside development.
With Addis Ababa preparing to host COP32 in November 2027, that experience will have an important place in the next chapter of international climate engagement.
A planet under mounting environmental strain needs more than promises; it needs action that takes root, grows and endures. Ethiopia’s Green Legacy is an expression of that conviction.
From millions of seedlings in the soil to a growing culture of environmental responsibility, it shows how a homegrown initiative can contribute to healing the land, strengthening regional solidarity and advancing the global struggle against climate change. Its roots are Ethiopian, but the benefits it seeks to nurture reach far beyond the country’s borders.
By Mesafint Brlie