SOCIETY
Australia to plant 1 billion trees to help meet climate targets
Baku, February 20, AZERTAC
Australia aims to plant a billion trees by 2050 as part of a new forestry plan the government says will help the country meet its Paris Agreement climate targets, according to Bloomberg.
A sod-turning spree on that scale would contribute to the removal of 18 million tonnes of greenhouse gas per year by 2030 in a country currently producing in excess of 500 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent per year.
The Regional Forestry Hubs plan would also support jobs in a sector that contributes more than A$23 billion (S$22.3 billion) to the national economy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a media statement.
Australia has the seventh-largest forested area in the world covering 17 per cent of its land area, according to the government's 2018 State of the Forests report.