“To build a sustainable, climate-resilient future for all, we must invest in our world’s forests.”

Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations (2015).

Our climate is changing. Over the past century the scientific community has documented dramatic shifts in global temperature, the rise of extreme weather patterns and the on-going deterioration of our ozone. The human race has become such a geophysical force that we are pushing ourselves into a new geological age, one that is now being referred to as the Anthropocene.

Global surface temperatures have risen by almost a degree Fahrenheit over the last century, with the rate increasing by 0.17 to 0.48 degrees per decade since 1970. Sea levels have risen by 20cm within our lifetimes, an amount unmatched by any period in the past 6000 years. Arctic summer sea ice is expected to completely disappear by 2100. The accelerating rate of global warming will inevitably cause wilder and less predictable weather patterns. Droughts in the United States, floods in Pakistan, typhoons in the Philippines and hurricanes around the world are likely to become more severe and commonplace.

Without global deviation from a fossil-fuel-intensive path, the world could lose an equivalent 1.8% of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050, amounting to $1.5 trillion. This cost is expected to increase to 8.8% of Global GDP by 2100.

There is a clear-cut consensus, reaffirmed by extensive recent research conducted globally, that the burning of fossil fuels and the subsequent production of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is one of the main factors behind the earth’s warming temperatures, more commonly described as climate change. More than half a trillion tons of carbon, from coal, oil and gas, have been burned since the Industrial Revolution, and the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere has risen by 40% in the past 250 years, over half of which has occurred during the last 50 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated another half a million tons will be consumed over the next three decades.

The world’s forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change. By utilizing available atmospheric CO₂ in photosynthesis, trees provide a simple and effective natural ‘sink’ for manmade pollutant activities. In fact, forests absorb one-fifth of our fossil fuel emissions across Africa, Amazonia and Asia. In a groundbreaking study released by Nature on Wednesday, a team of 38 scientists discovered that the planet is home to 3.04 trillion trees – completely overturning the previous estimate of 400 billion. Although, in no way has this been considered good news, as there are currently 46% fewer trees than there were before humans started the lengthy (but recently accelerating) process of deforestation.

One of the more practical and achievable ways to reverse this trend, cleanse our environment and ensure an equitable future is to lock up or sequester more carbon from the atmosphere through the simple process of planting more trees worldwide. For those examining the benefits of planting trees, neem trees tick many of the boxes for its suitability. It has a high rate of photosynthesis and liberates more oxygen than many other tree species, being able to ‘fix’ more than 14 μmol of CO₂ m^-1 sec^-1. A hardy, drought resistant tree, with a thick foliage, single trunk, very high leaf surface area and wide canopy, neem provides a good platform for maximum CO₂ fixation, able to provide a shield against other pollution components. With its extensive and deep root system, neem can flourish and grow even in poor and leached soils. On a practical, day-to-day level, neem trees can tolerate high levels of carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide, both emissions that are prevalent in cities with high levels of traffic.

Range of Organic Carbon Sequestration by Tree

At the end of 2013, 26.5m hectares of forest plantations were supported by carbon finance, according to NGO Forest Trends, with $212 million injected into the sector during the previous year. This represents growth of 9% y-o-y and is based on coverage of 162 projects across 58 countries. Part altruism, part commercial, this was financed by the sale of 28 million tons of carbon offsets.

The urgent need for climate change mitigation is giving rise to an important new asset class. Planting trees offers the most efficient and least expensive climate change mitigation channel, and make a compelling product for the growing market for climate change mitigation solutions and sustainable investment.