Climate change is a ticking time bomb, which must be mitigated through the combination of reducing and offsetting carbon emissions
Reducing and offsetting
There are two strategies which you or your company can use to become climate positive:
-
Reducing your carbon dioxide emissions;
-
Offsetting your emissions through carbon capture and storage or emission avoidance projects.
Many people believe that following one of these strategies will be sufficient to mitigate climate change. However, it is vital for our planet that we all practice both by reducing our emissions as much as possible, then offsetting those that we cannot avoid. Tree-Nation is here to help you offset your emissions through the carbon capture and storage which trees naturally offer.
Public consensus over time
Offsetting was not always embraced as a viable solution for addressing climate change, and the public opinion at the beginning of the 21st century was to focus on direct emission reduction efforts. What this notion failed to acknowledge was the amount of education, collaboration, individual commitment, and time it would require. Moreover, that focusing on reducing future emissions would not address humans' extensive history of pollution, stretching back to the industrial revolution of the 18th century.
The Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, is a landmark United Nations contract that set three main goals for participating countries:
-
Substantially reduce emissions to limit global temperature increases to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with additional incentive to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels;
-
Review countries' commitments to cutting emissions every five years;
-
Provide financing to developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Immediate action
The Paris Agreement embeds the use of carbon storage solutions in their plan, emphasizing the need for immediate and collective action against climate change. This alignment resonated deeply with Tree-Nation's mission, as our practices support the agreement's first and third objectives. Our solution not only facilitates decarbonization, but also channels funds to developing countries with limited financial resources. Later validation of reforestation’s cost- and time-efficiency would come by way of ETH Zürich’s 2019 scientific research, with ecologist Thomas Crowther noting:
“We all knew that restoring forests could play a part in tackling climate change, but we didn’t really know how big the impact would be. Our study shows that tree restoration can be a powerful tool for drawing carbon from the atmosphere. But we must act quickly, as new forests will take decades to mature and achieve their full potential as a source of natural carbon storage.”
How you can help
Reducing our emissions and transitioning to a sustainable way of life is imperative for the survival of humans on Earth. However, many individuals and companies continue to produce and consume goods at rates that are bringing us close to irreversible climate system changes. While the world continues on its long journey to sustainability, we encourage you to become part of the solution. Through our Pledge service, you can choose to plant trees manually or automatically, as well as adjust your offsetting impact to your individual or business needs while helping us to spread the message of climate positivity.