By Adnan Hameed TWA _____ The Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Friday forged collaboration to boost green development, nature conservation and food security in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan by promoting the Green Legacy Initiative of Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia. The collaboration was announced at a seminar titled Ethio-Pakistan Fraternity Under The Green Legacy Initiative, jointly organized by the Embassy of Ethiopia in Islamabad and the SDPI. It was attended by Romina Khurshid Alam, Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Dr. Abid Qaiyum Sulehri, Executive Director of SDPI, government officials, civil society and media. Addressing the Seminar, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia in Pakistan, Jemal Beker Abdula lauded the Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Climate Change for her efforts and wished her good luck for championing all efforts for mitigating adverse impacts of climate change. Ambassador Jemal Beker Abdula mentioned that the Initiative is the brainchild of Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister of the FDR of Ethiopia who came into power in 2018 and injected various policy reforms that made Ethiopia peaceful, stable, prosperous, eco-friendly, resilient and greener. It has been formally launched at the Embassy in Pakistan in 2023, he added. He informed that Ethiopia is aggressively taking up green development initiatives starting from its intended nationally determined contributions, halt on import of fossil fuel-based vehicles, net zero target by 2050. Commenting on the Initiative, he said it has different components of human-nature relationship, developing synergies and collaboration for one common goal, respect for humanity and political, economic, social and environmental wellbeing. He mentioned that mass media mobilization, community ownership and leading role by the top leadership of the country were among the reasons behind success of the initiative. The Ambassador said the FDR Embassy is honored to collaborate with SDPI and the PM’s Coordinator on Climate Change and will commence the initiative from Punjab’s mega cities and then will start in Sindh and other provinces. “We will need SDPI support in this regard and we are proud to announce Pakistan-Ethiopia fraternity on Green Legacy Initiative.” Prime Minister's Coordinator for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Romina Khurshid Alam, addressed the seminar via telephone and extended her gratitude to the Ambassador Jemal Beker Abdula for playing the role of a bridge between Ethiopia, Pakistan and Africa. “We are ready to collaborate and work together to promote the Green Legacy Initiative. Moreover, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination is working on establishing International Green Parliamentarians’ Caucus and it needs help from Ethiopia and where we can work together to save mother nature and learn from each other’s success,” Romina Khurshid Alam remarked. Executive Director SDPI, Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said the Ethiopian Ambassador is launching the leading Green Legacy Initiative in Pakistan that changed the flora and fauna of Ethiopia and incurred great societal impacts in terms of employment creation and food security. He said the government of Ethiopia is sharing its success story with other developing countries facing climate crisis to achieve resilience against environmental degradation. At the end, the Executive Director, SDPI presented a memento and the latest publications of the SDPI to the Ambassador.