Having joined the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s “Trees in Cities” initiative, the City of Geneva aims to plant 900 trees by April 2022. To strengthen its efforts to address the climate emergency and mitigate the lack of cooling islands, it has also just planted Switzerland’s first two “Miyawaki” micro-forests.
Planting season has begun; it promises to be abundant and rich in diversity.900 trees will be added to the more than 40,000 already on public municipal land, to replace the 300 trees that had to be removed or cut down last season due to severe weather or health issues.
The tree species and the size of the trees are carefully selected by the Parks and Recreation Department (SEVE) to ensure that they blend harmoniously with the landscape of the planting sites. In addition to storing carbon and absorbing pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide,increasing the area of tree cover helps limit soil warming,cools the air throughevapotranspiration in the summer, protects the soil, and reduces erosion by intercepting rainwater.
A UN campaign to promote trees
Finally, the City of Geneva is delighted to announce its participation inthe “Trees in Cities Challenge,”aglobal campaign launched by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in 2019,inviting cities to protect, expand, and sustainably manage urban trees and forests. As the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2021–2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and called for global action to protect and restore ecosystems, cities have a particularly important role to play.
Accounting for approximately 75% of all global carbon dioxide emissions, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change (flooding, water shortages, increased air pollution, etc.). By joining this community of change-makers, the municipality becomes part of a network for sharing best practices and experiences and commits to strengthening its resilience.As with micro-forests, Geneva is the first Swiss city to join this UN initiative.