Addis Ababa — Ethiopia's Green Legacy initiative is an exemplary model for mitigating climate change impacts and protecting the environment, Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) Secretary-General Felix Ngamlagosi said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, ZAMCOM Secretary-General Ngamlagosi noted that climate change is affecting the entire world, with African countries among the hardest hit.

The continent now experiences droughts and floods concurrently -- a pattern he described as climate-driven disasters.

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"The issues of climate change are affecting the entire world, but the African continent has been affected more; and our rivers are no longer retaining water for a big period. We also face droughts and floods at the same time. All these are disasters caused by climate change," he elaborated.

In this respect, the Secretary-General commended Ethiopia's large-scale tree-planting and riverbank conservation efforts under the Green Legacy initiative.

The measure, he noted, increases water retention during rainfall and helps restore stream flows.

Ngamlagosi described the Green Legacy initiative remarkable, urging other countries to learn from Ethiopia's experience.

The "Green Legacy initiative, where the government is now planting trees, is conserving the river banks. This means there is more retention of water when it rains, and streams will come back."

This is a very remarkable initiative, and we have to learn something from Ethiopia. The government is showing us examples which are very good and we need to learn, Ngamlagosi concluded.

Ethiopia has successfully planted billions of tree seedlings and strong political commitment has been the decisive factor behind the achievement.