Wed, Dec 7, 2011 - His
Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco,
Her Serene Highness Charlene, Princess of
Monaco andUNEP Executive Director Achim
Steiner with young members of the Plant-for-the-Planet
Foundation
Durban (South Africa)
/ Nairobi, 7 December 2011- The management
of the Billion Tree Campaign, which has
overseen the planting of more than 12 billion
trees worldwide, has been formally handed
over by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) to the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation;
a youth-led environmental organization based
in Germany.
Tribute to Wangari MaathaiThe
handover ceremony was held during the United
Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17)
in Durban, South Africa, and was attended
by HSH Albert II Prince of Monaco, Patron
of the Billion Tree Campaign.
Since the campaign's
inception in 2006, thousands of individuals,
schools, governments, corporations and other
organisations around the world have planted
trees in the name of sustainable development.
The billionth tree,
an African Olive, was planted in Ethiopia
in November 2007 - just a few months after
the campaign was launched.
In May 2008, the second
billionth tree took root as part of the
United Nations World Food Programme's agroforestry
initiative.
Growing to reach 193
countries, the campaign achieved the 12
billion landmark in October 2011, following
a tree planting campaign by a community
organisation in Kenya.
"UNEP's Billion
Tree campaign has far surpassed the original
goal", writes United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon in a commemorative booklet
produced to mark UNEP's handover of the
campaign.
"More than 12 billion
trees have been planted by people from all
walks of life - schoolchildren to presidents
- testament to a growing global movement
for sustainability. As we look to the Rio+20
UN Conference on Sustainable Development
and beyond, we will need just this kind
of commitment if we are to guarantee that
our planet can continue to provide the foundation
we need to reduce poverty and improve security
and opportunity for all", added the
Secretary-General.
UNEP had always considered
the Billion Tree Campaign to have a finite
lifespan and, after running the campaign
for four years, the organization had a choice
between bringing the campaign to a close
or transferring it to a partner.
The Plant-for-the-Planet
Foundation's profile with its emphasis on
young people, its academies on climate change
and its existing commitment and involvement
in the Billion Tree Campaign, gave it the
right profile with which to allow the campaign
to continue as a supportive element in a
wider youth initiative.
The final month of the
2011 United Nations International Year of
Forests provides a timely moment to hand
over the management of the campaign.
"I congratulate
all who have participated in the Billion
Tree Campaign and on its achievements to
date. Each time we set a target and each
time we thought it was time to bring the
campaign to an end, more and more trees
came forward and the bar was set even higher",
said United Nations Under-Secretary-General
and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"Today we open
a new chapter with the Plant-for-the-Planet
foundation and its network of enthusiastic
young people around the globe. I would encourage
all those involved in the BTC to now give
the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation and
this network of young people the same kind
of support they have given UNEP and the
World Agroforestry Centre since 2006",
he added.
"This is an enormous
mark of confidence and a historical moment",
said Felix Finkbeiner (14) of the Plant-for-the-Planet
Foundation. "We children are now keeping
the official tree counter of the Billion
Tree Campaign and will work together with
governments, companies and the public so
that the campaign continues to prosper.
We take over this task with the utmost commitment
and we will do everything to ensure Wangari
Maathai's legacy further branches out."
Inspired by the work
of the late Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari
Maathai and the Green Belt Movement she
established in her native Kenya, the Billion
Tree Campaign aims to improve quality of
life and limit environmental degradation
through the multiple benefits provided by
trees.
These benefits include
tackling climate change through the sequestration
of carbon, contributing to local economies
through products such as timber and providing
ecosystem services such as soil regulation,
erosion control and cultural values.
Forests also regulate
water cycles and provide habitats for biodiversity,
while hosting a wide variety of genetic
resources.
Planting more trees
and investing in forests is among the key
strategies put forward in UNEP's Green Economy
Report, which outlines pathways towards
low-carbon, resource efficient sustainable
development.
The report shows, for
example, that halting tropical deforestation
and planting new forests could represent
the mitigation potential equivalent of doubling
current nuclear capacity or constructing
two million new wind turbines.
China is currently the
leading participating country in the Billion
Tree Campaign, having planted a total of
2.8 billion trees under the campaign since
2004. India is in second place with 2.1
billion trees, followed by Ethiopia, Mexico
and Turkey.
As well as the campaign's
founding partners, which include the Green
Belt Movement, the World Agroforestry Centre,
the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization and the Prince Albert II of
Monaco Foundation, the Billion Tree Campaign
counts leading NGOs, international corporations,
UN agencies - and thousands of individuals
- among its network of supporters.
Hundreds of photographs,
films and testimonials have been received
from tree-planters across the world in the
five years since the Billion Tree Campaign
was launched. Many can be viewed on the
campaign website: www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign
Notes to Editors
About UNEP
The United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) is the voice for the environment
in the UN system.
Established in 1972,
UNEP's mission is to provide leadership
and encourage partnership in caring for
the environment by inspiring, informing,
and enabling nations and peoples to improve
their quality of life without compromising
that of future generations. UNEP is an advocate,
educator, catalyst and facilitator promoting
the wise use of the planet's natural assets
for sustainable development.
It works with many partners,
UN entities, international organizations,
national governments, non-governmental organizations,
business, industry, the media and civil
society. UNEP's work involves providing
support for: environmental assessment and
reporting; legal and institutional strengthening
and environmental policy development; sustainable
use and management of natural resources;
integration of economic development and
environmental protection; and promoting
public participation in environmental management.
www.unep.org
About the Plant-for-the-Planet
Foundation
Plant-for-the-Planet
was founded in January 2007 following a
school project on climate change by Felix
Finkbeiner, then 9 years old. In his project,
Felix developed a vision of children planting
one million trees in each country worldwide
to help offset global carbon emissions.
Plant-for-the-Planet
has since grown into a global movement with
around 100,000 children in over 100 countries
involved. In March 2011, Plant-for-the-Planet
became a democratically organized society
with a global board of directors consisting
of 14 children from eight nations.
http://www.plant-for-the-planet.org/
