DAVOS (January 22, 2020) – The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced the launch of its 1t.org initiative, which aims to empower the reforestation community and ensure the conservation and restoration of one trillion trees.
The following statement was released today by Trillion Trees upon the launch of the 1t.org initiative. Trillion Trees is a joint venture between three of the world's largest conservation organisations, BirdLife International, WCS and WWF, and is separate to the 1t.org platform. Trillion Trees is not wholly a tree-planting platform – our Trillion Trees vision is a combined effort to end deforestation, improve protection, and advance restoration to ensure the right trees remain in, and are returned to, the right places.
“Trillion Trees welcomes the launch of 1t.org. Conserving and restoring our forests is one of the most effective and immediate solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises.
"Forests are critical to our triple bottom line: to reduce and sequester climate altering carbon, protect habitats for millions of species, and ensure the wellbeing of millions of people.
"We need high ambition from all governments and businesses to immediately reduce emissions from all sources. Forests are critical, but only part of the solution to our climate crisis.
"As Trillion Trees, we advocate strongly that nature-based solutions need to be a part of the world’s strategy to address the climate and biodiversity crises. We are thrilled to see commitments to reforestation and global momentum to restore the right trees to the right places, as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
"We urge the global community to also prioritise measures to end deforestation and improve forest protection. Restoration alone cannot solve the climate and biodiversity crises, we must recognise the immense value of standing forests.
"BirdLife International, WCS, and WWF are working together under the Trillion Trees partnership to bridge the gap between global commitments and their implementation on the ground to ensure the right trees in the right places. By leveraging our large networks and decades of experience, we are working on three core approaches to end deforestation, improve forest protection, and advance restoration at landscape and regional scales around the world. For example, our teams work with farmers at the forest frontier in Indonesia, conserve intact forests in the Amazon, and restore forest landscapes in East Africa."
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Background
What is Trillion Trees?
“One trillion trees re-grown, saved from loss, and better protected around the world by 2050, thanks to determined and collective action by all sectors of society.” – The Trillion Trees Vision
Trillion Trees is a joint venture between three of the world's largest conservation organisations, BirdLife International, WCS and WWF, founded in 2017 on a vision of a world where tree cover is expanding not shrinking. We focus on three approaches: ending deforestation, improving protection, and advancing restoration. All three mechanisms are needed as restoration cannot solve the climate crisis alone. By working together, we combine large networks and decades of experience towards a common goal. Our ventures are protecting and restoring forests for the benefit of people, wildlife and a stable climate. We have on the ground experience in delivering major restoration and conservation projects, working with governments and communities at scale. Our mission is to connect funders with forest conservation ventures, and inspire the world to protect and restore one trillion trees by 2050.
How is it different to 1t.org?
1t.org is a separate initiative founded under the auspices of the World Economic Forum (WEF) bringing together governments, businesses, civil society and ecopreneurs with NGOs committed to restoring and conserving a trillion trees by 2030. The initiative will bring together influential people in business and government, use a website to connect different groups and channel funding to innovative projects.
What is the link between the two?
Trillion Trees and 1t.org will work together on our shared aspiration of protecting and restoring one trillion trees.
Supporting information
- Of the 39 billion tons of CO2 that we emit into the atmosphere each year, 28% is removed on land, mostly by forests (CLUA)
- Food production is the leading cause of tropical deforestation, and some 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food – due in part to agricultural expansion to grow crops.
- The Amazon is the world’s largest remaining tropical forest and stores up to 140 billion tonnes of carbon (WWF). Releasing this through continued deforestation would significantly accelerate climate change.
- One in six species is at risk of extinction if we fail to act on climate change.
- We lose an area of forest the size of a football pitch every two seconds.
- Put simply, there’s no way we can fight the climate crisis without stopping the destruction of our forests.
