WEF 2022: China commits to plant and conserve 70 billion trees by 2030

China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change on Wednesday said the country will plant and conserve 70 billion trees by 2030, reosponding to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 1t.org initiative.

The WEF and China Green Foundation, their statements said, will "actively echo and support" the initiative which will encourage society-wide stakeholders, including enterprises, individuals, and local governments at all levels to commit with actions to plant, conserve, restore and manage trees.

"China's forest cover and forest stock volume have been growing in the last 30 years, and China accounts for more than 25 per cent of the world's new green areas," said Xie Zhenhua during his speech at the Forum’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Davos.

WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab said, "We appreciate China’s effort in supporting the 1t.org initiative of the World Economic Forum and relevant UN initiatives, we highly appreciate China’s practices upholding relative international commitment such as the Paris Agreement and Biodiversity target through Nature-Based Solutions."

In the past decade, China has regrown more than 70 million hectares of forest cover and has benefited greatly from solutions in biodiversity conservation, sustainable usage and climate governance.