Page 74 - EarthHeroes

spread and in April 2007, with the help of his parents and two sisters, Felix formally launched his children’s tree-planting campaign – Plant-for-the-Planet. Over 100 pupils helped write letters to other schools encouraging them to join in, while an older friend – Sascha – created a website with a chart showing the number of trees planted. Soon schools were competing
with each other to plant the most.
The campaign was a great
success, and within one year
children in Germany had
planted 50,000 trees and Felix
was being asked to give talks
around the country. In June
2008, aged 10, he was invited to
Norway to speak at the children’s
conference of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP)
– a project aimed at taking care
of the environment. By this time,
Felix had learned more about
the impact of climate change,
and in front of 700 children from
105 countries, he spoke about
climate justice – the fact that the
countries that suffer the most are the poorer nations that have done the least to cause it. It is richer countries that emit the most CO2. Felix explained that tree- planting could not only slow down climate change, it could also reduce poverty by creating jobs in countries that desperately need them. Trees also help prevent the expansion of deserts and provide habitats for plants and animals facing extinction. After hearing his talk, the children voted for Felix to join the Junior Board of UNEP, which has seven members – one for each continent of the world. His area would be Europe and his task would be to explain to people the urgent need for action against climate change.
Felix’s school was proud and supportive of him, letting him miss some lessons as long as he kept up with his studies. And it was his teachers who had the idea of Plant-for-the-Planet ‘Academies’. By now, hundreds of children had joined the campaign and wanted to be activists like Felix. So in October 2008, Felix, his sister Franziska and Gregor hosted a special weekend to train 100 children to become ‘Climate Justice Ambassadors’ to motivate other children and young
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