Ethiopia will attempt to plant a record-breaking 700 million trees on July 31 as part of a campaign to fight deforestation and climate change, the prime minister’s office has said.
In 2017, India set the global record by planting 66 million trees in just 12 hours along the Narmada river in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
In 2019, Ethiopians planted 350 million trees in a single day as part of prime minister Abiy Ahmed‘s ambious Green Legacy Initiative launched that year.
Farmland Africa, a UK-based organisation which has an office in Ethiopia, has called the initiative “one of the most influential and potentially effective climate action intiatives of our time”.
“(On) July 31, 2025, Ethiopia will attempt planting 700 million seedlings in one day. Let’s get ready as the count down begins,” Abiy’s office said on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.
State minister for foreign affairs Berhanu Tsegaye said earlier that it would be part of “the largest environmental mobilisation in Ethiopia’s history”.
The prime minister’s office has told The Associated Press news agency previously that a specially developed software is helping with the count of the number of planted trees.
Farm Africa says Ethiopia “deserves huge recognition for the step” but that it needs support from “those more responsible for causing the climate crisis to ensure it is a lasting legacy”.
Scientists say planting trees is the most effective way to fight climate change.
Government workers, non-governmental organisations, ordinary Ethiopians and the business community are expected to join next week’s environmental drive.
