The Young African Leaders Initiative Wants You to Plant Trees

June 8, 2016 by Shanna Edberg

In honor of Earth Day 2016, the Young African Leaders Initiative is participating in the goal to plant 7.8 billion trees, one tree for every person, by the year 2020. The Initiative will be sharing tips on how to participate and organize tree-planting activities on their blog. Planting one hectare of trees can offset the emissions of hundreds of cars. Trees also absorb pollution, improve health, and protect against heat, wind, and storms.

Climate Protection: Sequesters carbon dioxide Energy & Mobility: Lowers energy use by moderating heat and wind Resilience: Prevents water runoff Food & Water: Improves water quality; prevents erosion Health, Well-Being, & Safety: Removes dust and pollution from the air, water, and soil; lowers stress levels Connection: Encourages outdoor recreation and social interaction

This post is part of a series on examples of multisolving, or climate-smart policies that simultaneously work to mitigate climate change while providing co-benefits such as the ones described above. The multiple benefits analysis was done using the FLOWER framework.