Source: European Parliament
The EU pledge for planting 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030 was launched in 2021 as a non-binding, but meaningful target to further enhance afforestation for climate, biodiversity and the bioeconomy[1]. Its implementation depends on voluntary grass-roots initiatives across the EU.
The Commission supports tree planting initiatives by giving them visibility though a web page[2] including a ‘ counter’[3] launched in April 2022. Although not all planted trees are reported, up to now, 65 organisations[4] in the 27 Member States have participated, as well as numerous citizens, via the dedicated MapMyTree[5] application . Organisations vary from state or region authorities to cities, private companies, foundations, universities and non-governmental organisations.
In order to further promote the pledge, in March 2025, the Commission announced the ‘Tree billion trees Award’[6] that will be organised starting from 2026 in order to recognise innovative and impactful tree-planting projects.
There is no specific budget for implementing this voluntary pledge. However, several possibilities exist to fund afforestation and tree planting projects at local level. The Commission published guidance on such funding[7] opportunities in 2024 and will update it before end of 2025.
The Commission does not plan to appoint national coordinators, but it may support local initiatives, in particular through jointly organised events. An expert report on the challenges to implement the pledge will be published in 2025.
- [1] Commission Staff Working Document The 3 Billion Tree Planting Pledge For 2030 accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – New EU Forest Strategy for 2030, SWD/2021/651 final.
- [2] https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-2030/3-billion-trees_en.
- [3] https://forest.eea.europa.eu/policy-and-reporting/3-billion-trees.
- [4] https://forest.eea.europa.eu/policy-and-reporting/3-billion-trees/organisations?searchTerm=.
- [5] https://mapmytree.eea.europa.eu/.
- [6] https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-2030/3-billion-trees/3-billion-trees-award_en.
- [7] https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c216e918-d646-11ee-b9d9-01aa75ed71a1/language-en.