By Elise Nam, Alliance Intern from Barnard College ‘24
Surprisingly, there’s a hot debate about whether trees are a solution to climate change. I use the search engine Ecosia, which uses 100% of ad money to plant trees. While I don’t physically plant trees, I feel a little more confident in my contribution to combating climate change along with my other sustainable habits. With such an overwhelming issue at hand, I’m aware that my web browsing hardly puts a dent in reducing my footprint. Planting trees is not enough, but it does help to preserve and restore our ecosystems.
At a New York Times Climate Forward event, Bill Gates called tree planting as a climate solution “complete nonsense.” Planting trees has become one “of the most hyped-up climate solutions,” and has gained momentum since “Marc Benioff, the co-founder of Salesforce, announced that he was going to work with the Trump administration to plant a trillion trees,” writes the New York Times. Gates criticized the solution, advocating for an anthropocentric approach utilizing technology as a primary climate solution.
On a call with NYT Climate correspondent David Gelles, Benioff defended his position stating “I’m pro-tree and I’m pro-ocean,” Benioff said. “And that’s where I’m putting my philanthropic dollars.” Benioff’s approach to climate change considers the ecological and environmental effects of climate change, in addition to the effects on humans.
In contrast, Gates’ approach to climate change falls into the techno-optimist camp, says The New York Times. This approach of addressing climate believes that solutions must be founded in technologies such as carbon capture, geoengineering, and renewable energy. The Gates Foundation is currently funding research for solar geoengineering by Harvard University, reports Forbes. This experiment examines how spraying calcium carbonate into the atmosphere, which produces a global cooling effect, could help combat climate change. However, there are unknown risks and repercussions that solar geoengineering could wreak on our planet.
Gates wrote a Green Manifesto for the Financial Times in 2021, offering “four bold ideas to help businesses take on the climate crisis.” Gates explains that while writing his book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, he developed a concept called “Green Premiums – the difference in cost between a fossil-fuel-based way of doing something and the clean, non-emitting way of doing the same thing.”
In his manifesto, Gates states that “To absorb the lifetime emissions that will be produced by every American alive today – just 4% of the global population – you’d need to plant and permanently maintain trees on more than 16 billion acres, roughly half the landmass of the world.” His manifesto calls upon business leaders to do more than just plant trees. Instead, he advocates for leaders to mobilize capital to reduce Green Premiums by offsetting emissions, promoting research and development, and shaping public policy.
Yet if Gates advocates strongly for climate change, he should be aware of the impact that his words have on the entire movement. Chief Executive of American Forests, Jad Daley responded to Gates’ comment on the platform formerly known as Twitter stating that “This kind of commentary can really set us back…Other studies abound from respected science leaders such as @IPCC_CH, @CrowtherLab, @nature_org also confirming reforestation as a viable way to help reduce CO2.”
Daley is also working with Benioff to achieve the trillion tree initiative. Scientists continue to research the effectiveness of planting trees to mitigate climate change. One possible concern is that planting trees may no longer be as adequate of a solution due to increasing forest fire frequency and intensity. Daley recognizes that “forests alone cannot solve climate change. Not by a long shot. The conversation has become cartoonishly oversimplified.”
Bill Gates has a tremendous influence and platform to mobilize or halt efforts of conservation. As climate change increasingly and imminently confronts society, we need all hands on deck, from tech to trees.