Felix Finkbeiner (1997) sketched out his vision as a nine-year-old during a school presentation:
“Let’s plant a million trees in every country on earth!”
To put this idea into practice, he turned to the generation that is hardest hit by the climate crisis – his own. Together with children from over 100 countries, Felix then founded the children’s and youth initiative Plant-for-the-Planet. To date, over 91,000 children have followed Felix’s example and are committed to their future as ambassadors for climate justice.
Felix encourages children and adults to take the future into their own hands.
At only 13 years old, he spoke at the UN in New York and called for 1,000 billion trees to be planted worldwide with the Trillion Tree Campaign. Trees absorb the harmful greenhouse gas CO2 and buy us humans time to end fossil fuel energy production, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and still meet the 2-degree target of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Since 2015, an average of around two million new trees per year have been planted on a foundation-owned reforestation area on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico itself. A planting platform developed by Plant-for-the-Planet also brings transparency to the global reforestation movement. Donors can choose their favorite project from around 200 reforestation projects worldwide and donate trees with just a few clicks.
Felix’s vision of the Trillion Trees is backed by scientific studies and today receives active support from environmental movements such as WWF to the World Economic Forum in Davos. He is repeatedly honored for his great commitment; most recently, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded him the Federal Cross of Merit in 2018.
Felix Finkbeiner is currently working on his doctorate in ecology at ETH Zurich, focusing on reforestation.