Planting a trillion trees
may not be a good idea
A new global initiative to ‘grow,
restore and conserve’ one trillion trees
around the world was launched last
month by the World Economic Forum.
The ‘1t.org’ plan, backed at Davos
by US President Donald Trump
and primatologist Jane Goodall,
aims to begin a “mass-scale nature
restoration” to protect biodiversity
and fight climate change.
“We are facing a planetary climateMaintaining current ecosystems may do more to capture carbon than
planting trees in unsuitable landscapesCLIMATE
DISCOVERIES
crisis and trees are one of the most
effective ways to sequester carbon
and stop the worst effects of climate
change,” said Marc Benioff, chief
executive of the software company
Salesforce, which is funding the
initiative, in a statement.
Critics, however, have been quick to
point out caveats to the new initiative.
They warn that tree planting as a
major absorber of carbon has beenGREEN
PA P E R S
Initiatives to plant trees
are popular, but could they
also be problematic?CITIZENS ASSEMBLE
The UK’s new ‘citizens’
assembly’ on climate change
met for the first time in January
in their first chance to quiz
experts on how climate policy
and science will affect the UK.
The 110 ordinary people from
across the country were
specifically chosen to represent
diversity of age, region and
opinion on climate change.
Questions they asked included:
‘Which is better for the
environment – British beef or
avocado from Peru?’ and ‘How
committed are other countries
to achieving net zero?’. The
assembly will be tasked with
delivering a report to
Parliament in April 2020 on
how the country should tackle
the climate crisis.
The environmental stories you need to know
Words: Jocelyn Timperley