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Tour Eiffel lights the way on eve of COP21
The President of the UN General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft joined UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, Special Correspondent of the French President for the Protection of the Planet Nicolas Hulot, and Amazon Chief Raoni in Paris tonight for the opening of an artistic initiative that projects virtual trees onto the Eiffel Tower.
On the eve of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21, the “1 Heart 1 Tree” initiative created by artist Naziha Mestaoui aims to connect global citizen mobilization with international politics, lighting up the Eiffel Tower with messages of hope, unity and commitment.
Using an app, every citizen with access to a smartphone will have the chance to give life to a virtual tree, that will grow on the Eiffel Tower to the rhythm of his or her heartbeat, accompanied by his name or by a positive message he wants to share with the world. For every virtual tree displayed, a real tree will be planted in one of seven reforestation programmes around the world.
According to Naziha Mestaoui “1 Heart 1 Tree” reconnects Man to Nature through Art and Technology.
The launch event, which was also attended by French actor Marion Cotillard, Mary Robinson, Janos Pasztor, Robert Orr, Ricken Patel, Jamie Henn and cellist Philip Shepard, highlighted the action being taken all around the world to secure our common future, protect our forests, and build a future of 100% renewable energy.