Paris aims to replace 60,000 parking spaces across the city with trees by the end of this decade, according to its newly released climate plan.
The plan, which must still be approved by the Council of Paris, lays out steps to help the city prepare for more extreme heat. The goal of ripping up parking spaces is part of a larger aim to create more than 700 acres of green space by 2030.
“Trees and nature are natural air conditioners,” officials note. “Their development makes the city more pleasant to live in during periods of high heat.” The plan also calls for setting up more cooling centers, creating more car-free zones, and installing reflective roofs on 1,000 public buildings.
Elsewhere in Europe, Danish lawmakers have agreed to a plan to rewild 10 percent of the country’s farmland and plant 1 billion trees. The government said the plan would bring “the biggest change to the Danish landscape in over 100 years.â€
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