To deal with climate change and rising temperatures, the Council of State wants 30% of the urban area to be shaded by 2070. Achieving this objective assumes that 7% of additional surface area benefits from tree cover. This involves planting 150,000 new trees over the next fifteen years, so that they have time to develop. The government therefore announced this Wednesday that it had adopted a bill to allocate 204 million francs to this program.
41 million will be intended for plantations carried out by the State. The other 163 million will be used to finance the tree planting projects of municipalities and private actors. The Council of State emphasizes that two thirds of the urban area are in private hands – and that the costs of revegetation are likely to dissuade project owners. Hence the idea of giving them a monetary boost.
The Executive specified that it would act as a priority on heat islands, in places where the population density is the highest, and in neighborhoods where tree cover is the lowest. In the latter case, it will be necessary to achieve a minimum of 10% shaded surface.
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