Thursday, March 28, 2024

Victoria takes U.N. pledge to plant 5,000 trees by the end of 2020

Share

The City of Victoria has accepted the United Nations Trees in Cities challenge by pledging to plant 5,000 trees on public and private property by the end of 2020.

During her visit to New York City, Victoria mayor Lisa Helps participated in the launch of the initiative hosted by U.N. Executive Secretary, Under-Secretary-General Olga Algayerova.

See also: Victoria youth joins hundreds in pledging not to have children until government takes climate action

“We know there is a climate crisis and we’re committed to everything we can as a City to mitigate the impacts,” said Mayor Lisa Helps.

“Participating in this U.N. initiative allows Victoria to join in a global movement of communities. City staff are currently designing ways in which we can harness the power of our community to meet this goal.”

In keeping with this pledge a new $1 million annual investment will be used to finance the planting and maintaining of new trees, bringing the total investment in Victoria’s urban forest up to $3 million in 2019.

See also: Canadian government to ban all single-use plastics by 2021

Victoria is the first Canadian city to accept the U.N. Trees in Cities challenge which suggests that planting more trees in urban areas will help mitigate the effects of climate change.

“Some estimates suggest that cities are responsible for 75 per cent of global C02 emissions, with transport and buildings counting among the largest contributors,” reads the challenge website.

“Planting more trees in cities is a simple, inexpensive and yet deeply impactful way in which mayors can lead the efforts in tackling climate change.”

mm
Brishti Basu
Former Senior Staff Writer and Content Manager at Victoria Buzz.

Read more

Latest Stories