..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date: 29 April 2008
Press Release No. N/15/2008

Bollywood Star Amitabh Bachchan Lends Support to UN Billion Tree Campaign

Tree Planting at UN Compound in Bangkok 30 April

Bangkok (UN Information Services) -- One of India’s leading actors, Amitabh Bachchan, will show his support to the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign by planting a tree at the UN’s Asia-Pacific regional headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, at 5:00 p.m.

He will be joined by Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); Hiroshi Nishimiya, Deputy Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific; and Latha Reddy, India’s Ambassador to Thailand and Permanent Representative to ESCAP.

The Billion Tree Campaign was launched by UNEP in January 2007. Since then, close to two billion trees have been planted around the globe.

Along with a focus on tree planting, the campaign also highlights the importance of voluntary action by all sectors of society to address issues such as climate change, air quality and water, among others.

“All of us can play a role in helping our planet. This involves simple actions that each of us can take,” says Mr. Bachchan ahead of the planting ceremony, which will be his first time to a UN premises.

“UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign, which is set to meet its two billion mark soon, is testimony to the tenacity and will of people to do their part. I encourage you to join the millions who helped turn this small ‘acorn’ into a tree of hope,” says Mr. Bachchan, an icon of the Indian film industry.

Mr. Bachchan is in Bangkok to promote the upcoming International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and Awards, which will take place in the Thai capital from 6-8 June 2008.

An annual event since 2000 and always held outside India, IIFA celebrates the achievement of Indian cinema on a global platform.

NOTE TO THE MEDIA: Media representatives are cordially invited to attend the tree planting ceremony on Wednesday, 30 April, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. at ESCAP headquarters, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue.

For further information, please contact:
Satwant Kaur, UNEP, Bangkok
Tel: +(66-2) 288 2127/2314
E-mail: kaur@un.org

Ari Gaitanis, UN Information Services, ESCAP, Bangkok
Tel.: +(66-2) 288 1862 Fax: +(66-2) 288 1502
Email: unisbkk.unescap@un.org