Photo credit: Felix Finkbeiner, Founder, Plant for the Planet speak at the Global Landscapes Forum Bonn 2019 Plenary: Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. GLF/Pilar Valbuena
Plant-for-the-Planet, a children and youth initiative launched in 2007 by 9-year-old Felix Finkbeiner, aims to tackle the climate crisis by planting a trillion trees worldwide.
Since 2007, with the help of many adults, companies and governments, nearly 14 billion trees have been planted to absorb harmful CO2 from the atmosphere and reported to the Plant-for-the-Planet tree-counter.
A trillion trees could capture 25 percent of human-made carbon emissions every year, Finkbeiner says. “Currently, there are 3 trillion trees worldwide, and we have space to reforest an area the size of the United States, enough room for another trillion trees.”
Now with the new Plant-for-the-Planet App it has never been easier to plant trees, Finkbeiner says. “No matter when and where you are, now nobody has an excuse not to plant. With just a few clicks, users can support tree-planting projects from all over the world.”
The Plant-for-the-Planet App is available for iOS and Android and will be launched on the sidelines of the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) on Sept. 28. GLF is jointly coordinated by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), UN Environment and the World Bank.
“If every single person, every company and every institution becomes climate neutral, we can save our future,” Finkbeiner says. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions reduces the likelihood that an overabundance of greenhouse gases will trap heat in the atmosphere, causing such environmental disturbances as melting polar ice caps and rising ocean levels.
GLF New York will be attended by 700 climate, Indigenous and youth leaders, environmental activists and musicians who will demarcate vital restoration strategies in preparation for the launch of the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
The decade will provide a framework for landscape conservation and restoration, a process critical for curbing global warming and meeting U.N. climate targets aimed at preventing post-industrial average temperatures from rising to 1.5 degrees Celsius or higher.
Watch a video of Felix Finkbeiner here: https://youtu.be/P5imD3e1eZo
Delegates to attend GLF New York include: Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Indigenous hip hop artist and youth director at conservation group Earth Guardians; Rocky Dawuni, Afro-roots artist and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for Africa; Inger Andersen, Head of UN Environment; Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, chief executive of African Union Development Agency-NEPAD; Christiana Figueres, founding partner of Global Optimism; Theo de Jager, president of World Farmers’ Organisation; Mountain climbers and filmmakers Taylor Rees and Renan Ozturk; Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org; Rebekah Moses, senior manager of impact strategy at Impossible Foods; Lina Pohl, former El Salvador minister of environment; Yannick Glemarec, executive director of Green Climate Fund and more.
Learn more:
- Climate leaders to map out U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration at GLF New York
- Indigenous teen activist Autumn Peltier to advocate for water rights at GLF New York
- Afro-roots musician Rocky Duwani to detail youth, tree projects at GLF New York
- Street artists paint massive mural in lead up to U.N. Climate Week
- Timeline: Road to U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030)
- Members of the press must apply to attend GLF by Sept. 23 due to on-site security
For further information, to attend or for interviews, please contact:
Julie Mollins
Communications
Global Landscapes Forum
j.mollins (at) cgiar.org by email
@jmollins on Twitter
juliemollins on Skype
The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, dedicated to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Agreement. The Forum takes a holistic approach to create sustainable landscapes that are productive, prosperous, equitable and resilient and considers five cohesive themes of food and livelihood initiatives, landscape restoration, rights, finance and measuring progress.
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