We are delighted to announce that our beloved City of Freetown has been shortlisted as a finalist for the 2022 C40 Cities Bloomberg Philanthropies Awards under the Innovative Climate Solutions category. Freetown was recognized for implementing the FreetownTheTreeTown Campaign. This award recognizes a city-led project demonstrating the innovative use of financial, technological, governance and/or legal tools and mechanisms that support the goal of achieving net zero by 2050.

Using a community-based approach, the FreetownTheTreeTown Campaign aims to plant, digitally track, and grow 1 million trees. We are excited to work with over 600 community growers across 13 catchments covering 500 communities in Freetown and the Western Area Rural District. Youth and women are critical to the community growing model. Both are not only victims of climate change; they are also valuable contributors to climate action. Hence, 80% of our Growers are youth (18 to 35 years), 48% are women and over one thousand youth and women have been trained as Community Climate Action Ambassadors.

Through the FreetownTheTreeTown Campaign, the Freetown City Council has incentivized a pathway to protect the natural environment from harmful practices like sand mining, stone mining and charcoal burning. The Council engages youth and women as a way of upskilling them to accelerate climate action in Freetown.

Tackling deforestation requires bold steps from everyone in Freetown and Sierra Leone. Our city continues to demonstrate the highest level of climate ambition, delivering inclusive climate projects to reduce the impacts of climate change and build a thriving and resilient environment for all.

A huge thank you to our incredible FCC team; this would not have been possible without them.

C40 is a network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities collaborating to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis. Together, they create a future where everyone, everywhere can thrive.