Now we Children save the World Tree b y Tree - Plant-for-the-Planet

* More information
about these
academies and
everything that
you can learn at
one is on page
84.
Stop Talking.
Start Planting.
Initially many kids don’t trust themselves to begin such a task, but actually it’s
not a problem at all! They only have to learn the info about climate change as
well as how to present that information to other people. In the end of October in
2008 we invited a group of students to our first “academy” in a meeting house
in Sonnenberg, Germany. Every school in the state of Lower Saxony was allowed
to send 2 kids. Franziska, Gregor and I gave presentations at the academy and
explained our experiences to the students. And suddenly it didn’t seem like a
joke to them anymore, the idea that they too would be giving presentations in
front of other children, but also in front of adults, telling everybody that we finally
have to tackle these problems.
Since then quite a lot of these academies* have taken place, and not only in
Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but also in other countries. Even in China!
Prominent people with
Plant-for-the-Planet
To make sure that our Plant-for-the-Planet movement spreads around the world
as quickly as possible, it needs many Climate Justice Ambassadors. Therefore
we have considered from the very beginning who might be our main supporters
– aside from us kids of course –, especially who would be well-suited for the job.
And who would be better than those people who are really well known?!
In a short amount of time we have won over many prominent* and influential
people to our cause, people who find our idea really great and who agree with
us about how important it is. Included in this group are musicians, athletes,
scientists, politicians, and many other important people in society.
They are, for example: Wangari Maathai (our role model!), Peter Muffay (musician),
Michael Stich (professional tennis player), Klaus Töpfer (scientist, politician,
and former Director of the UN Environmental Programme), Prince El Hassan bin
Talal of Jordan, Hans Küng (author and theologican), Gisele Bundchen (model and
actress from Brazil) and many more.
We aren’t saying that just to brag. We’re saying it because we are excited that
so many important and influential people are really supporting our cause! And we
are sure that we are going to find many, many more people who want to join in
too.
Peter Maffay
Rajendra Pachauri
David Suzuki
Albert II von Monaco
* Incidentally,
“prominent” refers
to “excellent” –
which naturally
makes us happy –
because it means
that we are able
to work alongside
so many “excellent”
people!
Do you want to also put your
hand in front of the mouth of
an important or famous person?
You can find more information
about “Stop Talking. Start
Planting.” on our webpage!
16 17
Wangari Maathai