#MoveTheDate
3
Days
Based on scenarios calculated by Project Drawdown, tree plantations would move the date of Earth Overshoot Day 3 days by 2050.
What is the solution?
Creating forests on land where they did not previously exist—in the form of tree plantations. This process is known as afforestation.
This solution improves our resource security in the planet category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Tree plantations act as carbon sinks, drawing carbon from the atmosphere and distributing it into the soil.
How is it scalable?
Many opportunities exist to plant forests on degraded agricultural and pasture land, as well as on land which has been corrupted by practices such as mining.
What is the solution?
Creating forests on land where they did not previously exist—in the form of tree plantations. This process is known as afforestation.
This solution improves our resource security in the planet category.
How does it #MoveTheDate?
Tree plantations act as carbon sinks, drawing carbon from the atmosphere and distributing it into the soil.
How is it scalable?
Many opportunities exist to plant forests on degraded agricultural and pasture land, as well as on land which has been corrupted by practices such as mining.
Tree plantations can take on different forms, from a biodiverse forest of native trees to rows of a single tree species. No matter their form, tree plantations reduce the amount of carbon being emitted into the atmosphere, as long as they are managed correctly.
China’s afforestation programs have been underway for decades. In an effort to slow the expansion of the country’s deserts, China has planted seedlings covering an area nearly the size of Ireland on an annual basis for the past four decades. And beginning in 1999, the country’s Grain to Green Program (GGP) launched, which “pays farmers to plant trees on their land and provides degraded land to rural families to restore.” The program successfully addressed the environmental problems of soil erosion and flooding. A recent study of the GGP found that it was successful in accumulating carbon in the soil, and suggests that similar programs have large potential to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration.
So far, there have been two key takeaways from China’s afforestation programs: when using tree plantations to combat desertification, care must be taken to select tree species with low water requirements; and in the case of degraded farmland, afforestation is most beneficial when diverse, native tree species are planted rather than a non-native monoculture.
Calculations for this solution are based on work done by our friends at Project Drawdown. You can get more information about this solution and their calculation methodology here.
There’s no benefit in waiting!
Acting now puts you at a strategic advantage in a world increasingly defined by ecological overshoot. Countless solutions exist that #MoveTheDate. They’re creative, economically viable, and ready to deploy at scale. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day. If we move the date 6 days each year, humanity can be out of overshoot before 2050.