* This article has been edited on 3 June 2020 to add details of the correction issued in Science on the paper by Thomas Crowther and his team. Young Entrepreneur Uses $100,000 of His Own Money to Start - ACCESSWIRE Desktop, Screen, and Laptop: 1,030 kgs of CO 2 e. Desktops and laptops (the most typical working setups) are responsible for the majority of the IT carbon footprint. Headlines around the world declared tree planting to be the best solution to climate change, lead author of the critique Joseph Veldman said in a statement at the time. Restor will combine the latest biodiversity metrics with a global map of restoration projects. Droughts, wildfire, and insect and disease outbreaks are becoming more frequent, and forests are being replaced by grassy shrublands after these disturbances, mostly because its now too hot and dry for new generations of saplings to survive. It claimed that planting a trillion trees could capture more than a third of all the greenhouse gases humans have released since the industrial revolution. David 'Simon - Moses' BRAVE 1904-1905 - Ancestry Its dangerous to conflate restoration with adding trees, says Archibald, of Wits University, because often restoration means taking trees away.. In 2020 alone, the 25.8 Mha (mega hectares) of tree cover perished.9, (A Gha is a global hectare, meaning the biologically productive hectare with the worlds average biological productivity per year.10). Its got the backing of big names: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is contributing an undisclosed amount of his own cash to the effort, while his company has committed itself to planting 100 million trees. Last year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched its 1t.org project, which aims to mobilize commitments from corporations, governments, and NGOs to conserve, restore, or grow one trillion trees by 2030. The researchers determined this area by mapping land with sufficient rainfall to support trees, but that is not currently occupied by forests, agriculture, or urban areas. You can find a list of approved VVBs from several authorities like the American Carbon Registry and Verra.6. 1 trillion trees really is also a symbol for ecosystem restoration, he recently said. Tree-planting initiatives have been further boosted by academic papers that claim enormous benefits from tree planting and maps that identify areas that could support more trees. Planting trees can play a part in reducing carbon in the atmosphere but it cannot reverse global warming on its own (Credit: Getty Images). This contrasts with the potential sale of empty credits. Consumers would be able to interrogate the credentials of their cup of coffee, clothing or a corporate net zero claim simply by looking up a Restor page to see how an agroforestry project or reforestation scheme is managing the land. But its not always that simple. Planting 1 trillion trees might not actually be a good idea Ukraine updates: Russia says defense minister visits Donbas, Russian mercenary chief says Bakhmut almost fully encircled, Biden thanks Scholz for 'profound' German support on Ukraine. Instead of that guy from Salesforce saying, Im going to put money into planting a trillion trees, Id like him to go and say, Im going to put my money into helping indigenous people in the Amazon defend their lands, Fleischman says. About Terrapass | The Terrapass story and who we are. The current focus on trees rather than grasses is partly a result of technological limitations: Its far easier and cheaper to measure above-ground carbon held in vegetation than carbon held below-ground in soil. Combining the latest biodiversity metrics with a global map of restoration projects, he hopes Restor will allow anyone with an internet connection to assess the impact of the programmes and bring more accountability and direction to conservation. We deliberated for months before forming 8 Billion Trees, going back and forth on whether or not to register as a non-profit. If a person planted a tree every year for 20 years - and each one survived, which is highly unlikely - those 20 trees would take up about 1,000 pounds, or half a ton, of carbon dioxide per . Tree-planting campaigns have taken off, with everyone from YouTube creators to high-powered CEOs embracing trees as a solution to the climate crisis. Reforestation might buy us up to a decade of time maybe six or seven years of current emissions, he says. Organizers of the Cauvery tree-planting project have said the criticism against it is a baseless opinion that contains blatant untruths and loose comments with no backing in facts. It says the trees will revive the river by increasing water retention. Carbon leakage. Forests can heal on their own if theyre allowed to, he says, and these forests end up being more resilient and more helpful in the climate fight than newly planted plots of trees. 2:15 p.m. EST MR PRICE: Good afternoon. The platform is focused on signing up NGOs initially about 30,000 so far, with tens of thousands in the process of being uploaded. During the 2020 WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Benioff announced that 300 companies and numerous governments have committed to hitting 1t.orgs target. Some international bodies have also claimed that the project has created around 85,000 jobs. However, simply stopping all our emissions is no longer enough. Government supporters are benefitting from the project, the official claimed. A plantation site for the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Project in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. However, the trees emissions can also lead to warming if they react to form the greenhouse gas methane, or ozone, which is a greenhouse gas at low altitudes. Through people's empowerment, the 8 Billion Trees can plant more trees, rebuild even more habitats, and sequester even more carbon emissions, Chambers said. Why Is 8 Billion Trees Not a Charity? Retrieved July 17, 2021, from: https://www.footprintnetwork.org/resources/glossary/. The lead author of that study, however, cautions against pitting all tree planting efforts against forest conservation. (n.d.). The company supports three different forestry programs, one of which is in Humboldt, CA. April8,2021, In late January, the multibillionaire Elon Musk took to Twitter and abruptly announced, Am donating $100M towards a prize for best carbon capture technology. But critics believe that it is an unsustainable and expensive waste of resources. High-profile programs aimed at planting billions of trees are being launched worldwide. Restoring forests may be one of our most powerful weapons in fighting climate change. Planting trees on snowy terrain that once reflected the sun could even turn those places into dark patches that actually absorb heat. Instead, it is a social enterprise with a strong focus on awareness campaigns which means their administrative costs are too high to be a charity. Thomas Crowther understands more than most the danger of simple, optimistic messages about combating the climate crisis. People are getting caught up in the wrong solution, says Forrest Fleischman, who teaches natural resources policy at the University of Minnesota and has spent years studying the effects of tree planting in India. This triggered a deluge of sarcasm across the platform: You mean, like, trees? I planted a tree, do I win? Lol just plant some trees dumbass., Musk replied, They are part of the solution, but require lots of fresh water & land. Join one million Future fans by liking us onFacebook, or follow us onTwitterorInstagram. Tree-planting started really trending in 2019, when a study published in the journal Science caused a commotion. Just a couple things at the top today, and then I look forward to taking your questions. The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has made a film arguing for extra protections for the worlds forests, and for the replanting of those that have been cut down. However, the states analytical blunder isnt representative of Terrapasss legitimacy or suspected lack thereof. Its not nothing, but it doesnt really fundamentally change the story: we still need some pretty massive reductions in our emissions. Among them, Terrapass has faced extensive public scrutiny. Millions more homes will be exposed to hurricane winds because ofclimate change, NASA and SpaceX postpone launch of Crew-6 mission, National Congress of American Indians calls for offshore wind moratorium. At its core, 8 Billion Trees carries out large-scale tree planting and tree conservation operations to fuel positive environmental change and defend habitats for animals, while also caring for displaced and hurt animals by utilizing wildlife sanctuaries and veterinary clinics focused in devastated and deforested areas. By some estimates, trees can be an enormous carbon sink. Birth 8 Feb 1855 - Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands. Also, planting trees is not just about stopping climate change. We encourage you to research and examine these records to determine their accuracy. He caught the eye of his Dutch backers, DOB Ecology, following his 2015 paper counting the planets three trillion trees, which remains the most authoritative estimate to date. "In my area people are being encouraged to plant trees which would help prevent natural disasters as well as providing a healthy environment," she told DW. They say that planting programs, especially those based on large numerical targets, can wreck natural ecosystems, dry up water supplies, damage agriculture, push people off their land and even make global warming worse. Yet, as of 2020, the world lost 3.92 Gha of tree cover, representing 30% of Earths land cover. Ecologists overwhelmingly agree forests have an important role to play in climate crisis mitigation alongside peatlands, wetlands and other solutions despite disagreement over the carbon accounting. By selling them upfront, California officials severely bloated their numbers. The team mapped how tree crown diameter, coverage, and density varied depending on . Another big concern surrounding the call for planting a trillion trees is that it could distract from other efforts to slow down climate change, like stopping fossil fuel pollution and deforestation in the first place. In the first year alone, Terrapass gained more than 2,400 members and reduced 36 million pounds of CO2.1. How healthy are India's 1.4 billion people? Similar conflicts over land use exist in all countries. Blue Pine Tree Guide: Locations, Species, Growing Instructions Others say this problem is overblown. Theres still a question mark, says Beerling. Billion Tree Tsunami Programme Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. You may also like Evergreen T-Shirt $28.11 $37.81 (20) Playing Cards $9.62 $17.11 (1) Personalized 8 Billion Trees Certificate - Conserve and Plant Trees from $50.00 (13) Reusable Shopping Bag $20.00 (11) 7 Reviews Write a review One solution, says Archibald, is better information. The public will also be able to assess the impact of their own back garden. We now know those headlines were wrong. Veldman argued that planting trees where they dont belong can harm ecosystems, make wildfires worse, and even exacerbate global warming. This includes restoring wetlands and other ecosystems, and minimising emissions from farmland, but the biggest contributors by far were preserving existing forests and reforesting degraded areas. We drive change by mobilizing the private sector, facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships in key regions, and supporting innovation and ecopreneurship on the ground. Unfortunately, it stands to reason that Californias cap-and-trade system isnt the only source of potentially overestimated forestry credits. People who live alongside and depend on the river would be affected too, says Prakash Kashwan, a political science professor at the University of Connecticut. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, sch. Carbon leakage refers to a company simply displacing their carbon dioxide instead of removing or reducing it.3 For example, imagine a corporation based in the United States. They also crowd out native species and increase the fuel available to wildfires, making these more dangerous. A graduate of the German University of Heidelberg, Parveen insists that this is the first Pakistani government to take environmental issues very seriously. All of this makes it easier to offset your carbon footprint, and aids in the pursuit of furthering the mission to heal the planet and save animals. Last month, a global review of tree-planting initiatives in the tropics and subtropics since 1961 found that while dozens of organisations reported planting a total of 1.4 billion trees, just. Unfortunately, climate change is certainly a polarizing issue. From Lab to Market: Bio-Based Products Are Gaining Momentum, How Tensions With Russia Are Jeopardizing Key Arctic Research, How Illegal Mining Caused a Humanitarian Crisis in the Amazon. South Africa has recently faced critical water shortages affecting major cities that have been exacerbated by invasive trees, and the government spends millions of dollars annually on a program called Working for Water to remove them from key watersheds and conservation areas. Its hard to predict how many trees theyll kill in the near future and how much carbon that will put into the atmosphere, but its likely to be considerable. There are people at odds with science and believe that such conservation and restoration efforts are not necessary. Earth needs our help. By using this site you consent to our use of cookies. Once those trees had matured, they could store 752 billion tonnes of CO2. They still think forests play a role in solving the climate crisis their skepticism mostly centers around efforts to plant trees in places they werent before, or to plant large swaths of a single species to essentially create tree plantations instead of real forests. 8billiontrees scam? : r/Scams - reddit However, there are also surprise benefits of planting trees. NASA Supercomputing Study Breaks Ground for Tree Mapping, Carbon His critique made the case that the amount of carbon the study said 1 trillion trees could sequester was about five times too large. The criticism has hit home. Are Huge Tree Planting Projects More Hype than Solution? Retrieved July 17, 2021, from: https://www.Terrapass.com/standards-2, 7Terrapass. Thats been kind of a red herring thats held out there a lot, says Law. 2. The companys forestry projects fall under the authority of the VCS, among others, while its landfill and livestock projects are in accordance with the CAR. Recent research shows that large areas of the American West may have permanently lost their forest cover. There are also further associated costs, a senior government official familiar with this project told DW on the condition of anonymity. In July 2019, the British ecologist co-authored a study estimating that Earth had space for an extra trillion trees on land not used for agriculture or settlement. (2019, July 5). But another anonymous government official questioned the validity of this claim, asking where the record is of these 85,000 workers. The team estimated that the natural climate solutions could lock up the equivalent of 23.8 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. Will they be limited by nutrient availability or increased fire or increased drought? Similarly, planting trees in dry areas can cause water scarcity because they suck up so much as China has discovered. "Provision of solar geysers and cooking stoves, and a restriction on tree felling in northern and northwestern areas could help a lot," he said. In particular, last year one research group claimed we can plant a trillion extra trees and remove a quarter of the carbon dioxide currently in the air. We are aware of no other viable climate change solution that is quantitatively as large in terms of carbon drawdown, the authors from the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich said in their comments published in Science last October. His lab has about 30 staff and an in-house public relations unit, and Crowther himself speaks on high-profile stages like TED and has access to wealthy businesspeople and top politicians. But a growing number of scientists and environmentalists are challenging this narrative on tree-planting. They calculated that planting continuous forest on this area, almost the size of the United States, would increase global forested area by a quarter and could store about a quarter of the current atmospheric carbon pool, an extraordinary amount. He explained that saplings have also been planted in places already suffering from water scarcity. They do not even know these terminologies, let alone understand the real causes that are destroying our environment," Abbas said. Even Donald Trump, who has thrown a wrench into US and global efforts to tackle climate change, said the US would sign onto the campaign, called 1t.org. Prevention Platform. In July 2019, the British ecologist co-authored. For instance, in 2017 land use changes mostly deforestation contributed four billion tonnes of CO2 emissions to the global total of 41 billion tonnes of CO2. The underlying problem is that our society is releasing greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), that are warming the Earths climate to levels we have never experienced before. Although a leading justification for tree planting is carbon sequestration, a growing number of ecologists say many projects will not create reliable carbon stores and may actually make global warming worse. Volunteers plant trees on the edge of the Badain Jaran Desert on Chinas Tree-Planting Day on March 12, 2021 in Gansu Province. The founder of the foundation that launched it, yogi and author Sadhguru, joined Salesforces Benioff at a press conference for the trillion trees campaign in Davos. But the subject of the forest restoration controversy is never far away. In May 2020, the studys authors made three corrections, including an acknowledgment that they were incorrect to state tree restoration is the most effective solution to climate change to date, and clarifying that new forests could absorb about half as much carbon from the air as the paper initially appeared to suggest. (n.d.). It is these projects that lack true results that are causing doubts on all the VCM as a whole, even though this can be a simple issue to avoid. Congressional Research Service. She points out that the polar regions are warming faster than the rest of the planet, so much of the snow may melt in the coming decades in which case planting trees will not make the ground that much darker. 8 Billion Trees is a Business that is Prioritizing the Cause of Actually Planting 8 Billion Trees Around The World, While Setting the Example of How a Cause Centric Business Can Succeed LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 14, 2019 /The founders of 8 Billion Trees are pleased to announce the launch of a new company that has one simple mission: to change the world, one tree at a time. Benioff views Crowther as a Steve Jobs of ecology, an ecopreneur who is using bold research to shine a light on natures potential to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss. If the place should be a full forest, thats the level you should be restoring. The first issue is that trees are dark, at least compared to other things that might blanket the land, such as grass or snow. 8billiontrees.com Review - Scam Detector. These are significant numbers. The neural network identified more than 1.8 billion trees - surprising numbers for a region often assumed to support little vegetation, said Meyer and Tucker. This scatters sunlight back into space, cooling the planet. "Imagine billions of trees and calculate the total cost, which could have been diverted for clearing the river banks, ensuring the flow of water from rivers that would have led to natural growth of trees without spending any money," he said. The hope is that they will save us from the worst effects of climate change. Tarick Belahbib - Sales Trader Environmental Commodities - LinkedIn They estimated that reforestation could remove three billion to 18 billion tonnes of CO2 per year. Data on the outcomes of conservation projects, available to academics, will facilitate a better understanding of what does and does not work in restoration ecology, he hopes. Are Huge Tree Planting Projects More Hype than Solution? According to Thomas Crowther, a professor of environmental systems science at Eidgenssische Technische Hochschule Zrich, reforestation is the top climate change solution in terms of carbon dioxide storage potential.8, Plus, forestry carbon offsets are crucial to wildlifes wellbeing. The Time magazine owner told everyone he could about the research: chief executives, friends and world leaders, even convincing climate sceptic Donald Trump to back the WEF initiative with a multibillion tree commitment. This could easily be prevented by tough action, he added. Ellen Bokkinga - Master Comparative Cultural Analysis - LinkedIn We can find the places that are not doing well, or as well as expected, and learn from them, too.. Terrapass is an impressively transparent organization within the carbon offset marketplace. It provides invaluable data that organizations can use to improve their practices, and see how a project can do better in its planting, reporting, and monitoring of operations. You have to be careful where you do reforestation, says David Beerling of the University of Sheffield in the UK. The study, led by Jean-Franois Bastin, a postdoctoral researcher at Crowthers lab in ETH Zrich, Switzerland, was the second most featured climate paper in the media in 2019, according to one analysis. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. Some feared the paper would be used to justify indiscriminate tree-planting, with damaging consequences for biodiversity, agriculture and access to water. One of its leading supporters is Marc Benioff, the billionaire CEO of Salesforce, who pledged funds to plant 100 million of them. "One of the factors leading to fire in various parts of the world is the elimination of grazing areas, which helps prevent such catastrophes," he said. Its a little shocking, but we dont actually have a good global perspective of where restoration is occurring, says Dr Susan Cook-Patton, a scientist at the Nature Conservancy and a member of Restors scientific advisory panel. Those grazing animals can help prevent wildfires, Mahmood Nasir explained. Probably the more important effect is those particles act as seeds for cloud droplets, says Spracklen. Grasses are also less vulnerable to destruction by fire, drought, and disease. Because of this, the report has larger implications for the carbon marketplace at large. Did the government plant tens of thousands of trees in northern areas of the country? All sorts of technological approaches have been proposed, but trees are an obvious contributor. By Adam Welz April 8, 2021 Although some large tree planting programs, like Chinas, began decades ago, many observers tie the recent enthusiasm for tree-planting to the 2011 Bonn Challenge, a joint initiative of the German government and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to get governments to commit to restoring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020. Suddenly we are all being told to plant trees. 8 Billion Trees - Facebook Ethiopia aimed to plant 5 billion seedlings in three months. He told DW that authorities first need to carry out an empirical study into the availability of water. Tree planting is not an alternative to mitigation.. Why would an upscale resort or hotel be dumping rooms that can be sold, and instead issuing "free" coupons that can be used or booked at any time in the future ? 8 Billion Trees 4.9 stars, 1,841 Reviews of 8 Billion Trees 8 Billion Trees Monthly Subscription Auto renew, 8 Billion Trees Respect Your Mother Shirt (ThriveCart), 8 Billion Trees Pounds of Carbon Offset Monthly, 8 Billion Trees Zaya the Jaguar, 8 Billion Trees Biodegradable Dental Floss, 8 Billion Trees Respect Your Mother Shirt, 8 Billion Trees Climate Change Is Real Shirt, 8 Billion Trees . Shortly afterwards she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times headlined To save the planet, dont plant trees. Earlier this year, he launched the platform Restor his lifes vision which brings together the latest data and thousands of conservation projects in a Google Maps of biodiversity. Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist and director at Californias Breakthrough Institute, pointed out problems with the paper when it came out. You dont need to plant a tree to regenerate a forest, Fleischman tells The Verge. Retrieved July 16, 2021, from https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/global/?category=summary&dashboard, 10Global Footprint Network. Protecting existing forests and planting new ones are surely good things to do. For instance, the climate will keep changing for many decades, and this will affect trees behaviour and growth but we dont really know how yet. Since the British scientist was awarded a multimillion pound long-term grant in 2018 to form the Crowther Lab, his multidisciplinary team has been trying to map the ecology of the planet. It is a project typical of his bigpicture thinking in ecology partly a consequence of a near fatal stroke in his mid-20s that has helped propel the 35-year-old from a postdoctoral researcher to a leading voice, with his own lab, in just a few years. Ethiopia aimed to plant 5 billion seedlings in three months. Researchers can map where projects are taking place and help prevent duplication, says Crowther. The ecologist admits messing up in the past, but says his Restor project will be a Google Maps of biodiversity, showing the impact of restoration from a forest to your own back garden, Listen to our podcast: Can we really solve the climate crisis by planting trees? Despite what 8 billion trees says, they're usually connected to buying a timeshare, joining a vacation club, or entering into some other sort of contract. Remembering avant-garde artist Mary Bauermeister, Belgian court paves way for Iran prisoner swap treaty, Palestinians in occupied West Bank live with uncertainty, Thousands of migrants have died in South Texas, states most vulnerable to the changing climate. Restoring the worlds forests, wetlands and natural landscapes is an end in itself, Crowther is keen to emphasise, and carbon sequestration is not the primary focus. I hate that people keep asking me: where are you going to plant these trillion trees? Crowther says. For them, the government has taken positive action in the right direction. The Amazon now releases more carbon dioxide than it stores, in large part due to forest loss from mining, logging, agriculture, and fires. For Law, it is one of the best estimates published to date. Between 2003 and 2016, lands under indigenous control had the smallest losses of carbon because the forest stayed intact and regrew in places that had been disturbed. Terrapass. The study also warned that the ability of indigenous peoples to protect their lands is under threat. The distribution of dryland trees and their density, cover, size, mass and carbon content are not well known at sub-continental to continental scales 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14.This . Forests cannot be planted in isolation, he told DW, they need to have a canopy and understory where medicinal and herbal plantsmay flourish. Its up to us to make our own maps, she says. In fact, some planting projects are clearly legitimate without them, because they have government contracts or otherwise. a film arguing for extra protections for the worlds forests, The UK government has planted millions of trees over the last decade, in 2016 one Indian state planted 50 million trees in one day, Ethiopia claimed to have planted 350 million in a day, a campaign encouraging all its readers to plant a tree, remove a quarter of the carbon dioxide currently in the air, the global total of 41 billion tonnes of CO2, one of the most effective carbon drawdown solutions to date, Crowther's team published an extensive correction, the best place to plant new trees is the tropics, we have created a cooling effect that slightly offset the warming from greenhouse gas emissions, a more plausible figure would be 11-15 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, natural climate solutions could mop up about 30% of the CO2 we need to deal with every year, a 2018 report on greenhouse gas removal technologies, planting trees in dry areas can cause water scarcity because they suck up so much, enabling more plant growth and therefore more carbon storage, planting rich new forests can boost local biodiversity, Similar conflicts over land use exist in all countries. When we asked them about their decision to do this, they gave us a candid response: