Why should we plant trees?

In 2019, a scientific report by the Crowther Lab concluded that planting trees is possibly the cheapest and most effective way to fight climate change. Beyond that, trees have incredible benefits for both our environment and its inhabitants.

tree planting in Tanzania

We have two solutions to fight climate change: we can either reduce greenhouse gas emissions or we can capture CO2 already released into the atmosphere. For many years the focus has been on lowering emissions. Today the scientific consensus is that this is unfortunately not enough. That’s why carbon capture (and in particular reforestation) is part of the solutions considered essential by the COP21 Paris agreement to keep global temperature rise below 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels. 

Trees absorb CO2 by storing the C (Carbon) and ejecting O2 (Oxygen). Other carbon capture solutions are being developed, but reforestation is by far the most efficient and affordable solution and probably over 100 times cheaper than the next best solution. 

Another extraordinary difference is the quantity of other amazing benefits of planting trees. Trees serve as habitats for millions of species, bring revenue to local populations, help us get food, fodder, and medicine, clean our air from toxins, purify our rivers and water resources, and much more. Plus, they are natural.

But today we are losing trees every year because of deforestation. Approximately 17% of climate change is caused by our loss of trees, an impact on global greenhouse gas emissions even greater than the entire transport sector. So we cannot pretend to fight climate change without solving deforestation.

Therefore, planting trees is essential for our planet, simply because trees address some of the most threatening issues our generation is facing: pollution, species extinction, climate change, desertification, deforestation, floods, poverty, malnutrition, and even deadly viruses. For many of these problems, planting trees is a critical part of the solution.

At Tree-Nation we are committed to planting 1 trillion trees by 2050

We consider the 1 trillion trees milestone to be sufficient to put a full stop to the continuous worldwide loss of trees, basically solving deforestation, while also allowing the capture of at least 250 billion tons of already emitted CO2 particles from the atmosphere. 

Read more about our mission to plant 1 trillion trees

Learn more about the benefits of trees