Anyone who harms the climate can have trees planted to compensate. Companies also advertise that they offset their emissions in this way. But things are not quite that simple.
The basic idea of helping the climate with a reforested forest is not wrong. That’s what Christopher Reyer from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) thinks: “We need more forests.” But the CO2-Compensation through reforestation is difficult because, according to scientists, it is often impossible to quantify how much the planted forest benefits the climate. In the worst case, such an action even has the opposite effect.
“There is very little transparency at the moment, so it is not easy for anyone to judge whether projects bring benefits to ecosystems or people.” Tim Lamont
A team of researchers recently evaluated the sustainability reports of 100 of the world’s largest companies. 66 companies said they were carrying out coma measurements, and 44 of them were planting trees, as the team reported in the journal Science. The study also showed that more than 90 percent of companies did not report any ecological results. In addition, none of the reports quantified the social or economic impacts on local stakeholders.
International corporations could play a key role in restoring ecosystems
“There is very little transparency at the moment, so it is not easy for anyone to judge whether projects bring benefits to ecosystems or people,” says lead author Tim Lamont from Lancaster University. “If a company says it has planted thousands of trees to restore habitat and absorb carbon, how do we know whether this has been done, whether the trees will survive and whether it has created a functioning ecosystem that supports biodiversity and benefits people?” says Lamont. Large international corporations could play a key role in restoring ecosystems, the researchers write. However, more transparency and accountability is needed to ensure that projects deliver good results.
Trees bind CO2 from the air and store carbon. The amount of storage depends on the tree species: the heavier and denser the wood, the more carbon is stored. Very young forests also store less than old ones. The geographical location should also be taken into account, writes the Forest Enterprise Foundation, which is committed to nature conservation and forest research: Tropical forests grow faster than forests in Germany and therefore store more CO in the same period of time2. As a rule of thumb, the foundation states: One hectare of forest stores around six tons of CO per year across all age groups2. In principle, reforestation makes sense, says PIK researcher Reyer, who researches the consequences of climate change. “In practice, it’s often not done so well.” If companies plant trees, “that doesn’t mean that these trees will survive.”
Planting just one type of tree usually makes no sense: monocultures have little resistance to storms or drought and fall victim to pests more quickly. Sometimes existing ecosystems, such as moors or steppes, are destroyed through reforestation projects. Elsewhere, illegal settlements would be cleared, with the result that people would build new homes elsewhere and in the process invade other, still intact ecosystems. “Ultimately, you have to keep an eye on the overall climate footprint,” says Reyer.
There are also really great projects
All of this is known in principle. And there are really great projects that take this to heart, emphasizes the scientist. Only the consumer who wants to calm his conscience with this “indulgence trade” cannot distinguish between them. His tip: Reforestation tends to be better than new planting, as this at least ensures that the location is suitable for forest.
Even if tree projects alone do not save the climate, forests can contribute a lot to climate protection, according to a report from the European Forest Institute from 2022. However, it also says: “Reforestation alone won’t get us anywhere. If we really want to limit the damage, we have to We combine different activities: avoiding deforestation, reforestation, different use of wood and recycling.” If this “holistic” approach were consistently pursued, according to the authors, “European forests and wood products could make a significant contribution to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.”
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2023-10-22 14:08:59
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