German schoolboy's tree-planting drive grows into global campaign, with chocolate funding 1 crore trees

As the world struggles with climate change and rising temperatures, an initiative begun by a German schoolboy has become a model for environmental action. In 2007, Felix Finkbeiner, then nine and a Class 4 student in Germany, planted a small sapling on his school campus. That sapling has grown into one of the world's largest environmental campaigns. The idea, which came out of an ordinary school homework project, has brought together young people and different countries around the world, and the campaign has now set a goal of planting a trillion (10 kharab) trees.

The journey began in January 2007, when Felix had to give a presentation on climate change at school. While gathering information, he learnt about the Green Belt Movement of Kenyan Nobel laureate and environmentalist Wangari Maathai. Her movement had brought Kenyan women together to plant about 3 crore trees. Inspired by this, Felix ended his presentation with a bold statement: "Children in every country of the world should together plant 1 million trees in their own country."

After the presentation, on March 28, 2007, Felix planted the first tree on the school campus with the help of his classmates. This laid the foundation of the Plant-for-the-Planet campaign. Support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) gave the campaign momentum. In just three years, by 2010, the millionth tree had been planted under the campaign in Germany alone.

Felix's work did not stop at planting trees. At just 13, he addressed world leaders at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly and appealed for urgent action on climate change. Twenty years on, the organisation continues to run large projects to plant and care for trees in several countries, including Mexico, Ghana and Spain. Plant-for-the-Planet has planted more than 36 million trees in its projects. Through its digital platform, funding has also been provided for planting more than 110 million trees worldwide.

To connect people directly with the campaign, Felix and his team launched an unusual idea in 2012 called The Change Chocolate. When people buy the chocolate, a direct share of the profit goes towards planting new trees. This chocolate initiative alone has so far raised enough money to plant more than 1 crore trees.

The campaign focuses not only on planting saplings but also on restoring forests naturally. Where seeds already exist in the soil and a healthy forest is nearby, human obstacles to tree growth are removed and nature is allowed to regrow the forest on its own. On badly degraded or barren land, forests are regrown by planting saplings directly.

The figure of one trillion trees is a global goal that all countries, organisations and citizens must achieve together. But Plant-for-the-Planet says clearly that planting new trees alone cannot be the only or final way to cut carbon emissions. Reducing the use of fossil fuels is equally essential.

Moreover, a newly planted sapling takes several decades to grow and absorb as much carbon as an old tree. Protecting existing old forests and trees is therefore the first step. Planting a new sapling is only the beginning of a long and big struggle. Felix's initiative has shown that if a good idea comes at a young age and is joined by hard work, even a nine-year-old's dream can change the direction of the world.