Green Washing - Smoke Screens of Contemporary Politics
Course: Arguments 2023
Of late, it is seen that Tree Canopy scores and forest data management are the new frontiers for Carbon Capture and many large conglomerates and nations intertwine their interests to find specific spots of land, ripe for seed injections The polarity between greening and reducing carbon emissions is made visible through the actions of large corporate entities seeking Carbon Capture, Carbon Offsets and Carbon Credits. ExxonMobil defines “Carbon Capture and Storage” as the process of capturing CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, and injecting it into deep geologic formations for secure and permanent storage”. Carbon Credit systems increase cost for companies in regulated markets by “charging them per unit of carbon they emit, which has the effect of disincentivizing future emissions”4. While Carbon Offsets “counteract the impact of expected emissions by investing in projects that reduce emissions” . These projects range from Wind farms to large scale forestry projects, Which faces risk like “wildfires,recently ravaging an estimated 153,000 acres of forests that are part of California’s carbon-offset project” ; and mostly monocultures with reduced biodiversity and food production.
Moving on, The interdisciplinary approach toward true tree thinking would be an ecologically and politically responsible methodology to dealing with how humans interact with non-human worlds. Forest restoration is one of the top solutions for climate change. Also, better city planning of dense urban areas and efficient organic agriculture methods supported by green logistical infrastructure would solidify the city as the greatest human invention. A study by UC Berkeley CoolClimate Network of 31,500 zip codes in the Northeast US examined Household Carbon Footprint (HCF), which measures the total greenhouse gases emitted by a household's consumption throughout a year. The study found “a consistent pattern: lower HCF in urban core cities (∼ 40 tCO2e) and higher footprints in outlying suburbs (∼50 tCO2e), with a range across the 50 largest metropolitan areas from around 25 to over 80 tCO2.” The reduction of private transport in dense urban areas due to improved public transport systems and better building use mix, directly translates in the reduction of HCF. Smith states that “tall buildings enable urban density and public transport to become economically viable. Thus, travel distances within city centers become shorter” as compared to the long commutes of suburban sprawls created as a result of building function segregation and low rise construction.
Furthermore, urban forestry, wildlife, and community gardening are best practices that need to be nurtured so as to ameliorate the livable conditions within city centers. The Official website of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation thoroughly documents, manages and plants trees so as to grow its urban forests and public parks. Ambitious projects such as the MillionTreesNYC, launched in 2007, helped plant more trees, map them and display tree data through a publicly available dashboard of taxonomy.
One quarter of the world’s land, which accounts for “ 17% of all forest carbon”15, is collectively managed by indigenous people and local communities as they have “long protected their lands and waters, guided by deep connections to place, culture and ways of knowing”. The achievement of greater conservation results and sustained biodiversity as “a result of their stewardship and management as opposed to government led initiatives should warrant the importance of these communities to the climate crisis.” Colonialism has drastically disassociated these communities from their land and the thirst of global capitalism has disempowered indigenous peoples and their actions to preserve natural forests. Global conservation efforts should be spearheaded by institutions with similar principles to The Nature Conservancy working in partnership with communities in the Andean Amazon, Humboldt Current, Tapajos Basin, Gabon, Okavango Basin, Melanesia and Mongolia grasslands.
Also, Organic biodynamic agriculture, practiced by many small cooperative farms, medium-sized enterprises, and even some large agro-processing corporations, demonstrates humanity's potential to produce organic food sustainably. This method, pioneered by Rudolf Steiner, emphasizes reconnecting with nature. Biodynamic farms, like SEKEM in Egypt, limit cattle density to around 2.5 animals per hectare, compared to conventional dairy farms with densities reaching 1,000 per hectare. This significantly reduces global methane and nitrogen emissions. SEKEM, established in 1977, exemplifies sustainable agricultural development with a responsible structure and Fair-Trade practices. Their success in greening the desert through organic farming offers a model to reverse land degradation, biodiversity loss, and combat climate change on a larger scale.
In conclusion, large-scale greening initiatives undertaken for public image or political gain (megaprojects, campaigns) may have a more detrimental impact on climate change mitigation than previously acknowledged. The increase in foliage and photosynthesis doesn’t entirely reduce the impact of carbon emissions. Global climate measures should include but not be limited to sustainable global food production, agro-forestry conservation efforts in partnership with existing historical inhabitants, affordable dense multifunctional city centers, tree data mapping, social and environmental engineering simulation models, responsible corporate structures and equitable supply chains are all plausible actions against climate change that should to be implemented in tandem.