The
following was received in two emails to the Carmelite NGO from Meryem C.
Amar,
Information Officer,
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
Division of Communications and Public Information in
Nairobi, Kenya:
Email
received August 26, 2008--
Greetings from Nairobi!
Your
inspiring newsletter (CarmeNGO) was passed on to us by Ms. Julia Hagl. It
caught my attention as I received my education at the Carmel Saint Joseph
school of Casablanca, in the 1970s.
We
are very pleased to learn from the newsletter of the efforts to conserve
the environment by the Carmelite network, especially in the fight against
deforestation and climate change.
I would also like to
express my gratitude to the author for including a piece on the Billion
Tree Campaign. As you may already know, the campaign has so far been a
success registering over 3.8 billion tree planting pledges and over 2.2
billion planted trees.
The campaign's new
target is seven billion trees - one tree per inhabitant on the planet by
the 2009 climate change meeting to be held in Copenhagen.
I therefore would be
very grateful if you could continue to advocate for this initiative, as we
are planning to enlist the support of faith-based groups worldwide.
Email received August 27, 2008--
It is my
pleasure to inform the Carmelite network worldwide that the United Nations
Environment Programme launched its first global tree planting project on 8
November 2006 in Nairobi during the 12th Conference of the Parties of the
Framework Convention on Climate Change. Due to its success, and by popular
demand, the campaign has been extended to cover 2008 and 2009. The
campaign has just won the UN 21 Award as a substantive programme in
recognition of its “exceptional contribution towards improving efficiency
in the United Nations”.
Placed
under the patronage of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Wangari
Maathai and His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, the campaign
is raising awareness of the inter-dependence between humankind and the
planet’s ecosystems, as well as the linkages between tree planting and
climate change mitigation, the restoration of biodiversity, air and soil
quality and food security.
Under the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign, faith
groups like yours, governments, private sector companies, United Nations
agencies, civil society organizations, farmers, local authorities and the
public at large are encouraged to enter tree-planting pledges on the
dedicated web-site
www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign, with the objective of
planting and caring for a total of one billion additional trees world-wide
in the course of the year 2008.
As at the end of August, the website recorded three billion 800 million
tree-planting pledges from around the world and from all spheres of
society, from the grassroots level to the highest positions in
decision-making.
Over 2.2 billion trees have been planted under the umbrella of the
campaign.
To define the pace of development, which is both equitable and
sustainable, one has to take into account the increased vulnerability of
ecosystems to the phenomenon of climate change. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change provides specific information on the nature of
future impacts. Climate change is projected to impinge on sustainable
development in most developing countries as it compounds the pressures on
natural resources and the environment associated with rapid urbanization
and economic development. Glacier melt will be followed by decreased river
flows, and freshwater availability is projected to decrease. By the 2050s,
billions of people could be adversely affected. Endemic morbidity and
mortality are expected to rise due to increases in coastal water
temperatures.
Therefore, in the face of recent alarming data, the Billion Tree Campaign
offers hope and a simple solution for climate change mitigation, while
enriching biodiversity.
I would like to invite your fellowship and its followers to join the
campaign and authorize you to use the Plant for the Planet logo.
I look forward to our dialogue. |