UK PM hails Billion Tree project at UN

ISLAMABAD: Alluding to the Billion Tree Tsunami programme, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the world to follow the lead of his Pakistan counterpart, Imran Khan, in combating the challenge of climate change.

In his address to the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday (early Thursday in Pakistan), Johnson said: “We are going to plant millions of trees in the UK but I was blown away [by the billion tree project]. I would like to invite everybody to follow the example of Imran Khan of Pakistan who has pledged to plant ten billion trees in Pakistan alone.”

He added it was important that the developed world recognise its obligation to help less developed countries down this path in these technologies [to cope with climate].

Per the text of his speech, Johnson said: “And we also recognise that this is not just about using technical fixes for CO2: we need to restore the natural balance, we need to halt and reverse the loss of trees and biodiversity by 2030, and that is why we in the UK are committed to beautifying the landscape, strengthening our protection against flooding, by planting millions [of] more trees.”

“We started this industrial revolution in Britain: we were the first to send the great puffs of acrid smoke to the heavens on a scale to derange the natural order,” he underscored.

Meanwhile, the researchers have also linked the planting campaign to the erosion of culture and livelihoods of a nomadic group called the Gujjars. Traditionally, Gujjars rent winter pastures from landowners in parts of Pakistan to graze their animals. But through the tree-planting campaign, many of those landowners have replaced grazing land with tree plantations.

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