In Australia, the unpleasant truth – rarely admitted – is that in many instances, the answer to the headline’s question is “no”.
Carbon credits counted in government projections can, quite literally, go up in smoke and blow out the emissions side of the CO2 ledger.
Australian National University climate scientist Professor Will Steffen’s italicised observation comes from Planting Doubt, Debra Jopson’s excellent article in the Jan 25-31 2020 edition of The Saturday Paper.
If every intelligent Australian would read it, we would be less susceptible to simplistic slogans (from whatever quarter) and to Governmental “greenwash”.
Every tree planting proposal/scheme ought be subject to proper, particular scrutiny, as ought any other scheme or proposal.
Scientists quoted by Ms Jopson make it abundantly clear that not everything which “earns” a “carbon credit” is in fact reducing emissions.
If the voting public remains credulous, even spurious tree planting schemes do offer unscrupulous or sloppy governments political benefit – for having “ticked a box”, for looking like they are “doing something for the environment/ about climate change”.
Likewise, if financial benefits, and perhaps also some image enhancement, are readily available via “carbon credits”, savvy businesses are likely to seize the opportunity…and not ask hard questions.
Underfunded statutory authorities may do the same.
Planting Doubt presents compelling evidence that some government-sponsored tree plantings – under the Coalition’s “direct action” slogan – have yielded unequivocally negative results in terms of their actual environmental impact/public benefit.
The 20 Million Trees program has been trumpeted as “Australia’s largest co-ordinated reconstruction program.”
In fact, according to a recent paper published by the University of Adelaide, 20 Million Trees is underfunded and ineffective.
Ministers’ announcements are not actual achievements.
Associate Professor Patrick O’Connor’s withering verdict:
It was a cheap program and the sourness of a low-quality program will linger a long time after the sweetness of the low cost.
Click here to read the full text of Debra Jopson’s Planting Doubt.
Note: photo atop this post (copyright Doug Spencer, taken on 29 November 2017 ) shows a young Eucalypt – part of a properly considered tree planting which has had a highly beneficial impact on Perth’s Lake Monger.