The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week announced plans to plant an Olympic Forest to connect with Africa’s “Great Green Wall,” a 5000 mile living struture of trees which, when complete, will cross the continent, sequesting 250 million tons of carbon and creating 10 million rural green jobs.
The Great Green Wall spans the Sahel and the Sahara, areas already dramatically impacted by the climate crisis. It will help millions in food insecure villages which have already been seriously impacted by soil degredation, droughts, and floods.
The project received $14,326 billion in accelerator funding in January at the One Planet Summit for Biodiversity co-organized by France, the United Nations and World Bank.
The Great Green Wall is one of the most inspirational and urgent movements of our times. This African-led initiative aims to grow an 8000km new world wonder across the entire width of the Continent to transform the lives of millions living on the frontline of climate change.
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More than anywhere else on Earth, the Sahel is on the frontline of climate change and millions of locals are already facing its devastating impact. Persistent droughts, lack of food, conflicts over dwindling natural resources, and mass migration to Europe are just some of the many consequences.
The Great Green Wall makes a vital contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (known as the SDGs)
- a global agenda which aims to achieve a more equitable and sustainable world by 2030. www.greatgreenwall.org
Mohamed Cheikh El-Ghazouani, President of Mauritania and current chair of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall, welcomed the Accelerator funding on behalf of the region.
"We welcome the announcement of the Great Green Wall Accelerator Initiative, whose objective is to release an initial contribution over the period 2021-2025, to give effect to the commitments of the financial partners in a coordinated framework," said Ghazouani.
"The mobilization of this additional funding through an innovative approach will certainly contribute to the achievement of the Great Green Wall goals, which aim by 2030, at the restoration of 100 million hectares of degraded land and the creation of 10 million green jobs.... This initiative will certainly facilitate the alignment of our partners’ interventions, in response to the concerns raised by our Ministers of Environment at the last Great Green Wall Conference," said Ghazouani.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said recovery from the pandemic is an ideal opportunity for projects like Africa’s Great Green Wall.
“With smart policies and the right investments, we can chart a path that brings health to all, revives economies and builds resilience. Innovations in energy and transport can steer a sustainable recovery and an economic and social transformation. Nature-based solutions – such as Africa’s Great Green Wall – are especially promising.”