ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Ethiopia announced on Friday their plans to establish a dedicated park in Islamabad next month, aimed at promoting friendship and solidarity between the two nations. This initiative is part of their ongoing bilateral cooperation on climate change.

The announcement was made during a press briefing jointly addressed by Ethiopian Ambassador Jemal Beker Abdula, Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khursheed Alam and Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman and Islamabad Commissioner Mohammad Ali Randhawa.

The joint press briefing was held at the Ethiopian embassy, which was followed by a tree plantation ceremony aimed at contributing to Ethiopia’s record-breaking initiative of planting 600 million seedlings in one day under the globally recognised Green Legacy Initiative of Dr Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

Government officials, diplomatic community, academicians, religious and business fraternity, and media gathered at the Ethiopian embassy and planted saplings of fruits, vegetables and other species under the Green Legacy Initiative.

Addressing the press briefing, Ambassador Jemal Beker Abdula expressed gratitude to the government and the people of Pakistan for contributing to 600 million tree plantation initiative of the Ethiopian government.

The ambassador recalled the launch of Ethiopia-Pakistan Fraternity under the Green Legacy Initiative programme across Pakistan under which not only trees were planted across the country, but also Ethiopia-Pakistan Fraternity Parks and Enclaves had also been established.

“Climate Change is no more a buzzword rather it is a reality and for that matter we all have to join our forces to deal with the looming threat which is taking more lives than any other global crisis,” said the ambassador while announcing the launch of the 2nd round of Ethiopia-Pakistan Fraternity under the Green Legacy Initiative programme in Pakistan.

He announced that a dedicated park for Ethiopia-Pakistan friendship was being established in Islamabad in collaboration with the Climate Change Ministry and the CDA. The Ethiopian Embassy would look after the park after its establishment, he added.

Coordinator the Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khursheed said she and the ambassador of Ethiopia initiated a collaboration in areas of climate change and sustainable development goals since 2022.

She recalled the launch of Ethiopia-Pakistan Fraternity Programme last year through a collaboration between her office and the Ethiopian embassy under the Green Legacy Initiative of Dr Abiy Ahmed Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

“This Green Legacy initiative stands as beacon of hope for the world,” she said, adding that Pakistan was looking forward to learn from the best practices of Ethiopia.

She said the Pakistan government was also scaling up the Green Pakistan programme which received recognition globally. The CDA Chairman appreciated Ethiopian ambassador for his efforts to tackle climate change which needed collective efforts for being a global problem.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2024