Students in the Philippines now have a final requirement in order to graduate from school: they must plant 10 trees. The new law, which came into effect on May 15, 2019, will apply to graduates from elementary and high schools, and college or university. Called the "Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act," it is seen as a valuable opportunity for young people to take action against climate change.
Congressman Gary Alejano, who introduced the bill, said, "While we recognize the right of the youth to a balanced and healthy ecology... there is no reason why they cannot be made to contribute in order to ensure that this will be an actual reality."
With 12 million kids graduating from elementary school, 5 million from high school, and 500 thousand from university every year, that means 175 million trees will be planted annually. Over the course of a generation, that will mean 525 billion trees, although Alejano has said that even if only 10 percent of the trees survived, that's still an impressive 525 million in a generation.