Nairobi, 19 December 2018 – Building on the momentum of climate action from the just concluded Conference of Parties (COP24), UN Environment today joined the government of Kenya for the launch of ‘Greening Kenya Campaign’, which focuses on growing trees in schools, universities, education centers, farmlands and dryland.

The initiative is part of Kenya’s aim to plant 1.8 billion trees and achieve more than 10% forest cover in the country by 2022.

“Planting a tree is continuing a battle against the global challenge of climate change. We commend the initiative and vision behind it. With this campaign, Kenya lives up to the aspirations of its citizens to uphold a bond of unity between the forests and the people,” said Jorge Laguna-Celis UN Environment Director of Governance Affairs. “These actions, partnerships and joint coordination efforts of various ministries and national organs will definitely lead to reversing the adverse effects on our environment which we see manifested in drought, desertification and flooding among other consequences.”

The Kenyan government has stated that more than 200,000 acres of forest cover has been destroyed in recent years, and called for the enforcement of a moratorium on logging in public and community forests.

“This launch could not have come at a more opportune time. The effects of climate change are real and we have experienced it with the droughts witnessed in Kenya” said Keriako Tobiko, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment. “We are doing this for ourselves, our country, our children and our children’s children.”

Some of the world’s foremost environmental assessments, including UN Environment’s Emissions Gap Report and Adaptation Gap Report have shown an increasing gap between countries’ ambitions and actions against the reality of climate change, as the world prepares for a future with increasing climate risks.

The Adaptation Gap Report cited that less than half of countries assessed provide integrated frameworks to address climate change adaptation in a holistic way, revealing that most address adaptation through development plans or sectoral policies alone, while a handful have been specifically designed to create financial instruments or to focus on disaster risk management.

Kenya’s cabinet secretary for Interior Dr. Fred Matiang’i and cabinet secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Prof. Margaret Kobia pledged to provide 50 million of the annual 500 million target tree seedlings and use their national mandates to mobilize their institutions into supporting the restoration efforts.

Approximately 12 million seedlings — both indigenous and exotic — are being grown at Kenya’s Ruiru Prison farm (where the launch was held) using the resources available to the institution. Similar nurseries have been set up in 27 other centres in all the regions and ecological zones across Kenya where 38 million more seedlings will be developed and distributed from.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About UN Environment

UN Environment is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UN Environment works with governments, the private sector, civil society and with other UN entities and international organizations across the world.

For more information, please contact:

Mohamed Atani, UN Environment Regional Information Officer, Africa

Moses Osani, News and Media, UN Environment.