Crossroads Asia

Why Was the UN Secretary General Planting Trees in Mongolia?

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Crossroads Asia | Environment | East Asia

Why Was the UN Secretary General Planting Trees in Mongolia?

Antonio Guterres’ participation in a tree-planting ceremony was a high-profile boost for the Mongolian government’s One Billion Trees campaign.

Why Was the UN Secretary General Planting Trees in Mongolia?

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres (left) plants a tree with Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Aug. 9, 2022.

Credit: Office of the President of Mongolia

The planting of trees could be imbued with a lot of different metaphorical values, but when U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres paid Mongolia a visit to plant trees, this is not just a metaphor for luring Mongolia further into U.N. activities. It was literally about planting trees.

Guterres’ arrival marked the fifth visit of a U.N. secretary general to Mongolia and the first since Ban Ki-moon came in 2009.

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