A team of European Union and United Nations staff planted trees to highlight the impacts of climate change on forests on the eve of Human Rights day celebrated on December 10.
This collective event which took place locally, in the Arboretum, coincided with the biodiversity COP15 and marked the right to a healthy environment, which was recognized in July by the UN General Assembly. It also stressed the spirit and need to restore nature within the spirit of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
The tree planting event was organized jointly by the UNEP Brussels Office and the UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC), in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Brussels, and in collaboration with foresters from the Tervuren Arboretum.
The Arboretum hosts an amazing variety of species, with trees from all over the world. Unfortunately, climate change has had an impact on some of the existing trees and about 20% have been lost over the recent years due to increased temperatures alone. This tree planting initiative aimed at restoring certain parts but also planting new species (imported for instance from the South of Europe), which should be more resilient and better suited to adapt to climate change. Among resilient trees planted, the species included spruce, Whitebeam, Silver Fir, and an Elm. These trees are an essential part of the meadow ecosystem.
Thanks to great participation from the European Commission (DG ENV, DG CLIMA, EEAS) and United Nations teams in Brussels (UNRIC, UNEP, OHCHR, FAO, UNDP), with at one point 30 volunteering staff, more than 600 trees were planted in one freezing cold afternoon. One of the trees was an oak tree in honor of Mauro Petriccione, late Director General of DG for Climate Action of the European Commission.
In her opening remarks before planting the oak tree, Florika Fink-Hooijer, Director General of DG Environment of the European Commission, expressed gratitude to the UN family in Brussels for maintaining a close partnership with DG Environment of the European Commission, also on the annual “#ForOurPlanet” campaign, which aims at raising awareness around nature and biodiversity protection through events and digital action. She emphasized the importance and symbolism of trees for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss and pointed to the international negotiations around drought, climate, and biodiversity (COP15 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the UN Climate COP27, the ongoing UN Biodiversity COP15): “All of the three COPs are interlinked. It is all about one system and that system doesn’t work anymore”
To conclude and as an invitation to encourage more togetherness and local actions to restore our ecosystem, Ms. Fink-Hoojer added: “It is like planting a seed, not just for the next COP but for the years to come.”
