Combat global warming: plant trees and protect forests

By capturing CO² molecules, forests act as carbon traps and limit global warming. In 2007, over 1.6 billion trees were planted as part of the "Plant for the Planet" campaign launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and supported by Wangari Maathai, the winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Peace. The original target of 1 billion trees was far exceeded and the programme has been renewed for 2008 and 2009.

Some countries, such as Ethiopia (700 million trees planted), Mexico (217 million) and Turkey (150 million) made impressive efforts. The movement's success shows that it is possible to implement an ambitious sustainable development programme based on a message. Be that as it may, despite all these efforts, we are a long way from resolving the deforestation issue at the worldwide level. To make up for the losses of the past decade, we have to plant no fewer than 14 billion trees over the next ten consecutive years.