Trillion Tree Campaign

Last updated

Trillion Tree Campaign
Formation2018
Founded at Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
Fields
Official language
English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese
Parent organization
 Plant-for-the-Planet
Affiliations UNEP
Website trilliontreecampaign.org
Formerly called
Billion Tree Campaign

The Trillion Tree Campaign is a project which aims to plant one trillion trees worldwide. [1] It seeks to repopulate the world's trees and combat climate change as a nature-based solution. The project was launched at PlantAhead 2018 in Monaco by Plant-for-the-Planet. [2] [3] [4] [5] In the fall of 2018, the project's official website was published in order to register, monitor, and donate trees to reforestation projects around the world. [5] [6] The campaign is a continuation of the activities of the earlier Billion Tree Campaign, instigated by Wangari Maathai, who founded the Green Belt Movement in Africa in 1977.

Contents

As of 30 May 2021, 164 restoration projects participate in the campaign and 13.96 billion (1.396% of the goal) trees have been planted worldwide. [7]

History

Billion Tree Campaign

The Green Belt Movement began its activity in Africa in 1977, eventually planting more than 30 million trees. [8] The Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement. When an executive in the United States told Maathai their corporation was planning to plant a million trees, her response was: "That's great, but what we really need is to plant a billion trees." [9]

The project was launched in 2006 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco [10] and the World Agroforestry Centre-ICRAF [11] as a response to the challenges of climate change, as well as to a wider array of sustainability challenges from water supply to biodiversity loss, [12] [ failed verification ] and achieved the initial target of planting a billion trees in 2007. [13] The billionth tree, commonly known as an African olive, was planted in Ethiopia in November 2007. [14] In 2008, the campaign's objective was raised to 7 billion trees, a goal which was surpassed three months before its target of the climate change conference that was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009.

The 2-billionth tree took root as part of the United Nations World Food Programme agroforestry initiative. The campaign's target was then raised to seven billion trees. [15] In 2009, UNEP mobilized action across the globe through the "Twitter for Trees" campaign. UNEP pledged to plant one tree to feed into the Billion Tree Campaign for every follower who joined from 5 May 2009 to World Environment Day on 5 June 2009. The campaign was a success, with 10,300 people following the page by World Environment Day. [16]

The World Organization of the Scout Movement also planted trees under the campaign, in line with its mandate to study and protect nature across several countries. [17] United Nations Peacekeeping missions also joined the campaign and planted trees within their field missions in East Timor, Ivory Coast, Darfur, Lebanon, Haiti, Congo, and Liberia, among others. [18]

After the campaign

Felix Finkbeiner addressed the United Nations in a speech to open the International Year of Forests 2011, saying: "It is now time that we work together. We combine our forces, old and young, rich and poor; and together, we can plant a trillion trees. We can start the Trillion Tree Campaign." [19] In December 2011, after more than 12 billion trees had been planted, UNEP formally handed management of the program to the youth-led not-for-profit Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation (an organisation that had been participating in the Billion Tree Campaign since 2007), based in Tutzing, Germany. Momentum has since continued, with 40,000 young ambassadors spreading the message in over 100 countries. [20]

In 2015, researcher Tom Crowther found that about 3 trillion trees exist in the world [21] and later it was also estimated that planting 1.2 trillion more trees would counteract 10 years of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. [22]

In 2017, Pakistan's Billion Tree Tsunami restored 350,000 hectares of forests. [23]

On 9 March 2018, the Trillion Tree Declaration was signed at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Signatories include Prince Albert II of Monaco, Gyalwang Drukpa, Patricia Espinosa in collaboration with the WWF, WCS, and BirdLife International.

In September 2019, the Plant-for-the-Planet app was released under an open-source license. It allowed users to register planted trees or to plant trees by donating to different tree-planting organizations around the world. [24] The foundation does not take any commissions for donations made through the campaign. [25]

One Trillion Tree initiative

The 2020 World Economic Forum, held in Davos, announced the creation of the One Trillion Tree initiative platform for governments, businesses, and civil society to provide support to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2020–2030), led by UNEP and FAO. Forum participant Donald Trump, then-president of the United States, announced that the government of the U.S. would commit to the initiative. [26]

Principles

By country

China

In the years 2011—2022, China restored more than 70 million hectares (700,000 km2) of forests. The nation committed to plant and conserve 70 billion trees by the year 2030 as part of the Trillion Tree Campaign. [28]

US

The United States has pledged to plant, grow, and restore around 51 billion trees by the year 2030. Currently, forests in the country absorb 15% of its carbon emissions. This can rise to 27% with responsible reforestation. [29]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation</span> Conversion of forest to non-forest for human use

Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute. Estimates vary widely as to the extent of deforestation in the tropics. In 2019, nearly a third of the overall tree cover loss, or 3.8 million hectares, occurred within humid tropical primary forests. These are areas of mature rainforest that are especially important for biodiversity and carbon storage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest</span> Dense collection of trees covering a relatively large area

A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 found that forests covered 4.06 billion hectares, or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reforestation</span> Method for land and forest regeneration

Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purposes of reforestation programs are for harvesting of wood, for climate change mitigation, and for ecosystem and habitat restoration purposes. One method of reforestation is to establish tree plantations, also called plantation forests. They cover about 131 million ha worldwide, which is 3% of the global forest area and 45% of the total area of planted forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wangarĩ Maathai</span> Kenyan environmental and political activist (1940–2011)

Wangarĩ Maathai was a Kenyan social, environmental, and political activist who founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) is an indigenous grassroots organization in Kenya that empowers women through the planting of trees. It is one of the most effective and well-known grassroots organisations addressing the problem of global deforestation. Professor Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK). GBM's successes in forest conservation, education, and women's economic empowerment have gained the organisation worldwide acclaim. It is also noted for its advocacy of human rights, democratisation of access to public lands, and environmental justice issues such as the role of women's traditional ecological knowledge in addressing environmental degradation and desertification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afforestation</span> Establishment of trees where there were none previously

Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees in an area where there was no recent tree cover. There are three types of afforestation: Natural regeneration, agroforestry and tree plantations. Afforestation has many benefits. In the context of climate change, afforestation can be helpful for climate change mitigation through the route of carbon sequestration. Afforestation can also improve the local climate through increased rainfall and by being a barrier against high winds. The additional trees can also prevent or reduce topsoil erosion, floods and landslides. Finally, additional trees can be a habitat for wildlife, and provide employment and wood products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business action on climate change</span> Range of activities by businesses relating to climate change

Business action on climate change is a topic which since 2000 includes a range of activities relating to climate change, and to influencing political decisions on climate change-related regulation, such as the Kyoto Protocol. Major multinationals have played and to some extent continue to play a significant role in the politics of climate change, especially in the United States, through lobbying of government and funding of climate change deniers. Business also plays a key role in the mitigation of climate change, through decisions to invest in researching and implementing new energy technologies and energy efficiency measures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental issues in China</span>

Environmental issues in China had risen in tandem with the country's rapid industrialisation, as well as lax environmental oversight especially during the early 2000s. China was ranked 120th out of the 180 countries on the 2020 Environmental Performance Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avoided Deforestation Partners</span>

Avoided Deforestation Partners, or AD Partners, is a non-profit organization under the auspices of the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C. AD Partners is involved in the global effort to solve climate change by working to end deforestation in tropical rainforest countries. By avoiding the practice of deforestation, i.e., clearing forests to provide inexpensive farmland, potential carbon emissions are prevented. In addition, avoiding deforestation also allows forests to sequester carbon and scrub the air of pollutants. Beyond protecting the Earth's air quality, tropical forests facilitate conditions for rain, replenish water sources, provide habitats for myriad plant and animal species, and sustain the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people globally. Leading scientists and economists say that ending deforestation is the most cost effective and scalable method of reducing greenhouse gases. In fact, they believe that ending deforestation will cut the timeframe for solving the climate crisis in half.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Day of Forests</span> International day established by the United Nations

The International Day of Forests was established on the 21st day of March, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 2013. Each year, various events celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests, and trees outside forests, for the benefit of current and future generations. Countries are encouraged to undertake efforts to organize local, national, and international activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns, on International Day of Forests. The Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization, facilitates the implementation of such events in collaboration with governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and international, regional and subregional organizations. International Day of Forests was observed for the first time on March 21, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plant-for-the-Planet</span> Climate action organization

Plant-for-the-Planet is an organisation that aims to raise awareness among children and adults about the issues of climate change and global justice. The Initiative also works to plant trees and considers this to be both a practical and symbolic action in efforts to reduce the effect of climate change. Its motto is "Stop Talking, Start Planting". In 2011, it reached a goal of planting a million trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate finance</span> Type of investment in the context of climate action

Climate finance is an umbrella term for financial resources such as loans, grants, or domestic budget allocations for climate change mitigation, adaptation or resiliency. Finance can come from private and public sources. It can be channeled by various intermediaries such as multilateral development banks or other development agencies. Those agencies are particularly important for the transfer of public resources from developed to developing countries in light of UN Climate Convention obligations that developed countries have.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation and climate change</span> Interactions between deforestation and climate change

Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change, and climate change affects the health of forests. Land use change, especially in the form of deforestation, is the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from human activities, after the burning of fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases are emitted from deforestation during the burning of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon. Global models and national greenhouse gas inventories give similar results for deforestation emissions. As of 2019, deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation are accelerating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billion Tree Tsunami</span> Tree-planting campaign in Pakistan

The Billion Tree Tsunami was a tree plantation drive launched in 2014, by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, in response to the challenge of global warming. Pakistan's Billion Tree Tsunami restores 350,000 hectares of forests and degraded land to surpass its Bonn Challenge commitment. The project aimed at improving the ecosystems of classified forests, as well as privately owned waste and farm lands, and therefore entails working in close collaboration with concerned communities and stakeholders to ensure their meaningful participation through effectuating project promotion and extension services. The project was completed in August 2017, ahead of schedule.

Ant Forest is a tree planting initiative launched in 2016 by Ant Financial Services Group, an Alibaba affiliate. It encourages users to lower carbon emissions by planting trees when users engage in activities that reduce carbon emissions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felix Finkbeiner</span> German environmentalist

Felix Finkbeiner is a German environmentalist and the founder of the international tree-planting and environmental advocacy organization Plant-for-the-Planet.

Plant for Pakistan (Plant4Pakistan), also known as 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, was a five-year project to plant 10 billion trees across Pakistan from 2018 to 2023. Prime Minister Imran Khan started the drive on 2 September 2018 with approximately 1.5 million trees planted on the first day. The campaign was based on the successful Billion Tree Tsunami campaign of the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, also led by Imran Khan, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2014. This different initiative is often confused with the initiative of the Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif who launched a national campaign of Green Pakistan and also allocated budget funding from the PSDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Crowther (ecologist)</span> British scientist specializing in ecosystem ecology

Thomas Ward Crowther is a professor of ecology at ETH Zürich and founding co-chair of the Advisory Board for the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. At ETH Zurich, he started Crowther Lab, an interdisciplinary group of scientists exploring the role of biodiversity in regulating the Earth's climate. Crowther is the founder of Restor, an online platform that supports thousands of community-led restoration projects around the world. In 2021, the World Economic Forum named Crowther a Young Global Leader.

Green recovery packages are proposed environmental, regulatory, and fiscal reforms to rebuild prosperity in the wake of an economic crisis, such as the COVID-19 recession or the 2007–2008 financial crisis. They pertain to fiscal measures that intend to recover economic growth while also positively benefitting the environment, including measures for renewable energy, efficient energy use, nature-based solutions, sustainable transport, green innovation and green jobs, amongst others.

This article documents events, research findings, scientific and technological advances, and human actions to measure, predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of global warming and climate change—during the year 2020.

References

  1. ↑ "One trillion trees – uniting the world to save forests and climate". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Trillion Trees campaign launched in Monaco by Felix Finkbeiner with support from Prince Albert". Monaco Reporter. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  3. ↑ "Plant Ahead: the Trillion Tree 'revolution' to save the Planet starts from the Principality of Monaco". HelloMonaco. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "Felix Finkbeiner is trying for the trillion". Landscape News. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Rooting for Our Planet". Esri. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Hub, IISD's SDG Knowledge. "Plant-for-the-Planet App Supports Trillion Tree Campaign | News | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD" . Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  7. ↑ "Home". Trillion Tree Campaign – Together let's plant a Trillion Trees!. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Simon N Gosling (2012) — Sustainability: The Geography Perspective, 13th page of chapter 6, University of Nottingham January 2013, — accessed 25 January 2020
  9. ↑ "The Green Belt Movement". www.greenbeltmovement.org.
  10. ↑ "Billion Tree Campaign - Green Earth Appeal".
  11. ↑ "Campaign to plant a billion trees within a year launched at UN climate change conference". UN News. 8 November 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  12. ↑ "Commit to Action – Join the Billion Tree Campaign!". Archived from the original on 15 December 2014.
  13. ↑ (content retrieved 13 June 2007 & 28 March 2016, source added 22 August 2013 (14:16)): link content unavailable - "Plant for the Planet". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2013., (alternative source added): Achim Steiner (UNEP), in, Alister Doyle — More than 1 billion trees planted in 2007: U.N., Reuters 28 November 2007 - accessed 23 January 2020 (using "one billion trees in 2007 (achieved by November" with (google)
  14. ↑ "UN Billion Tree Campaign". Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "UNEP Billion Tree Campaign Hands Over to the Young People of the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  16. ↑ http://www.undp.org.tr/Gozlem2.aspx?WebSayfaNo=2035 (this source opens to 403 Forbidden - @ access made 24 January 2020)
  17. ↑ "Your Planet Needs You! Unite to Combat Climate Change on World Environment Day". Archived from the original on 22 August 2013.
  18. ↑ "Tree Planting Campaign Hits Four Billion Mark". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
  19. ↑ Felix Finkbeiner addresses United Nations with speech to open the International Year of Forests 2011, 2 February 2011, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 22 January 2020
  20. ↑ UNEP. (7 December 2011). "UNEP Billion Tree Campaign Hands Over to the Young People of the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation." Archived 13 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine Accessed: 26 September 2013.
  21. ↑
    • (Crowther, Glick, Covey et al) "..approximately 3.04 trillion...", (Ehrenberg, using Crowther, Glick, Covey et al): " roughly 3 trillion trees on Earth"
    • T. W. Crowther, H. B. Glick, K. R. Covey, C. Bettigole, D. S. Maynard, S. M. Thomas, J. R. Smith, G. Hintler, M. C. Duguid, G. Amatulli, M.-N. Tuanmu, W. Jetz, C. Salas, C. Stam, D. Piotto, R. Tavani, S. Green, G. Bruce, S. J. Williams, S. K. Wiser, M. O. Huber, G. M. Hengeveld, G.-J. Nabuurs, E. Tikhonova, P. Borchardt, C.-F. Li, L. W. Powrie, M. Fischer, A. Hemp, J. Homeier, P. Cho, A. C. Vibrans, P. M. Umunay, S. L. Piao, C. W. Rowe, M. S. Ashton, P. R. Crane & M. A. Bradford (2015) — Mapping tree density at a global scale, Nature 525, 201–205 (2 September 2015) https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14967 - accessed 23 January 2020
    • Crowther, Glick, Covey et al, Rachel Ehrenberg — Global count reaches 3 trillion trees, Nature 2 September 2015, doi:10.1038/nature.2015.18287 - re-access made 23 January 2020
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ "Pakistan's Billion Tree Tsunami restores 350,000 hectares of forests and degraded land to surpass Bonn Challenge commitment". IUCN. 11 August 2017.
  24. ↑ "Tree-planting programs turn to tech solutions to track effectiveness". Mongabay Environmental News. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  25. ↑ "Plant-for-the-Planet". plant-for-the-planet.org. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  26. ↑
  27. ↑ Letters (21 February 2020). "Backing the trillion tree campaign to combat climate crisis | Letter". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  28. ↑ "China will aim to plant and conserve 70 billion trees by 2030 as part of the global tree movement". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  29. ↑ "Welcome to the U.S. trillion trees community". 1t org US. World Economic Forum. Retrieved 24 June 2022.

Bibliography

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