Climate change 101: Let’s talk trees and farmers

In this installment of “Climate change 101”, Carolien Samson, head of sustainable banking at Oxbury Bank Limited, look at how farmers are able to use trees to mitigate climate change and manage market access.

We know that trees remove carbon dioxide as well as other pollutants from the atmosphere and tree-based schemes have become popular offset mechanisms. Trees have additional advantages to farmers – they provide shade for livestock and crops, and they support habitats for birds, bats, insects, and reptiles which will become more important as the world heats up due to climate change.

Trees also provide food, artistic and economic opportunities. There is therefore merit in planting and protecting trees for more than just their carbon removing and storing abilities.

Trees remove different quantities of carbon depending on type and age – so, like wine, we have vintages of trees for carbon removal purposes.

Older trees are larger and remove more carbon. Broad-leaved species may remove more carbon, but it turns out that conifers and trees with hairier leaves, remove more pollutant particles from the atmosphere.

Evergreen trees will also remove more carbon as there is less decomposition during the life cycle of the tree. So, what opportunities exist for farmers?

Farmers with existing tree stocks

A farmer who has to develop a net zero plan in a supply chain and has existing trees on the farm starts with an immediate advantage.

The farmer will calculate the emissions from their operation using a credible carbon calculator like the one from Confronting Climate Change recently featured.

They then include the carbon being removed by the existing trees and, depending on the scale and type of farm, may find themselves close to or carbon positive as a result. Fruit farmers will definitely benefit from their orchards and may be well on their way to net zero.

Carbon insetting with trees

Companies who are managing net zero commitments in a supply chain may assist their existing suppliers to plant trees.

Nestlé has the best-known example of this type of carbon insetting project where the Nespresso team has been involved in tree planting projects to protect coffee crops for more than a decade.

It turns out that coffee plants are very sensitive to higher temperatures and shade provided by larger trees create valuable protection over and above other ecosystem services like erosion prevention and pollinator habitats.

For Nestlé, the advantages are multiple – they are protecting their future supply of coffee beans while simultaneously removing carbon from their supply chain which will assist their net zero aspirations.

The farmers are benefitting through safeguarding their future income streams, but also receive new, current advantages from the new trees which include fruit.

Carbon offsets scheme

One of the most contentious subjects for climate mitigation relates to the use of carbon offsets in company net zero pledges. In the aftermath of the Paris agreement, net zero commitments were made by many entities, some of which were of dubious quality.

To create some certainty for external stakeholders, the Science Based Targets Initiative was formed to check the scientific validity of targets and provide oversight and credibility to these claims.

One of the main principles is that a company must aim to first reduce its own emissions and only then resort to purchasing offsets to manage those emissions that cannot be avoided in the short-term. Ryanair recently became the first corporate to commit to buying no offsets, but to focus purely on reducing its own emissions through investments in technology and innovation.

The two terms tend to be used interchangeably, but technically carbon credits refer to those traded in formal carbon markets like the California Carbon Market and European Union Emissions Trading System while offsets are used in the voluntary carbon market. Formal carbon markets involve emissions being allocated by a government body to polluters who can then either sell surplus allocations or buy credits to balance their allocation.
Carbon offsets typically do not involve natural capital like trees. The voluntary carbon market is used by entities across the world to offset their emissions. Ever been asked if you want to offset your flight emissions when booking a holiday? I use Ecosia as my Internet search engine and thus get a virtuous feeling from the fact that my random scrolling supports tree planting across the planet. That is the voluntary carbon market in action. Carbon insetting is an investment in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but occurs directly in the up or downstream supply chain of the business.

Farmers can however benefit from well-developed carbon offset schemes with trees planted on surplus land or integrated into other activities.

To qualify for offsets, tree planting should be directly supported by the carbon offset income with an intention to maintain the trees over a long time. Farmers should remember that these are typically long-term commitments which could bind future owners.

Ideally, the project should be verified and monitored by an external party and the trees cannot be enrolled in multiple schemes to avoid double-counting. There are unfortunately a number of these projects of doubtful quality and limited evidence of actual carbon removal, so corporates need to do proper due diligence on any scheme before signing up.

Corporates also run the risk of their offsets going up in smoke (quite literally) if a fire breaks out as happened to Microsoft a few years ago, although most projects keep a surplus to cover such eventualities and insurance products are starting to appear to reduce these risks.

Farmers planting trees

African Women in Agriculture (AWIA) recently launched a tree planting initiative to plant 1,000 peach trees in Eikenhof, south of Johannesburg.

This is part of their programme to provide women with skills and knowledge on agri ecosystems to develop their own businesses and feed their families. Peach trees have the virtue of also providing fruit to eat over and above any benefits like capturing carbon and providing shade.

The project has been launched in partnership with Ecoforce, an Australian based company that pay farmers to plant and maintain trees across the world.

Although this is not a formal carbon offset project as it is broader than just carbon removal, the trees are GPS located and monitored with buyers receiving regular reports on their progress.

We know there are still peach trees growing in Linden that were planted early in the 1900’s when that suburb was a major fruit-producing area. Hopefully this project will continue for another 100 years!