Nairobi — Kenya's private sector has to date contributed a total of Shs6 billion to the national tree growing campaign, in an effort to further demonstrate the sector's commitment to engage in public-private partnerships anchored on sustainable solutions geared towards increasing Kenya's forest cover.

Speaking during the launch of the accelerated national tree growing campaign at State House Nairobi on 27th May 2022, Kenya Private Sector Alliance CEO Ms. Carole Kariuki expressed the commitment of the business community to partnering with the

Government in combating the challenges arising from climate change.

Kariuki noted that the Government through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has been leading efforts to accelerate the attainment and maintenance of at least 10 percent of tree and forest cover in the country.

Through a multistakeholder approach and support from partners drawn from the public, private and civil society sectors,

Kenya's tree and forest cover currently stood at 12% and 8.8% respectively, a great achievement and assurance of Kenya's commitment to realizing her national and global targets.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on his part noted that his government had placed the environment at the center of his economic development, observing that the roundtable meeting signified the start of an ambitious but fulfilling journey of increasing Kenya's forest cover to at least 30 percent by 2050. He called on the private sector to continue supporting this agenda and reiterated that

Kenya will continue honoring commitments to combating climate change and being the benchmark for global action in commemoration of the Stockholm+50 conference.

In his remarks, C.S Keriako Tobiko noted that in 2013, Kenya's forest cover stood at 7.2 percent and dropped to 5.9 percent in 2018.

He appreciated the progress made through public-private partnerships which have led to the current 8.8 percent and 12.13 percent forest and tree cover respectively.