Tree Planting to Fight Climate Change? Here's Why It's Not That Simple

 Is planting trees the solution to climate change? Maybe not.

In one of my recent online classes, we started talking about practical ways to combat climate change. I suggested planting trees, and that sparked an idea in me. What if we started a tree planting initiative as a class project?

That led me down a rabbit hole of research. I was surprised by what I found.

I came across a powerful new study in Nature that changed the way I think about afforestation (the process of planting trees in areas where there were none before).
👉 Read the full paper here

Why Tree Planting Isn’t Always the Best Climate Solution

Tree planting sounds great: it’s cheap, natural, and it removes carbon from the air. But the truth is far more complex.

According to the research, planting trees as a carbon offset has serious ecological and economic limitations:

• Carbon storage is temporary. Trees are vulnerable to wildfires, droughts, and pests. If they die, the carbon goes right back into the atmosphere.

• Afforestation competes with agriculture. Using land to plant trees may reduce land for growing food, increasing the risk to food security.

• Not all land is suitable. Soil, climate, and biodiversity needs vary—monoculture forests can actually harm ecosystems.

• Offsetting isn’t reduction. Fossil fuel companies using afforestation to “balance out” their emissions doesn’t solve the core issue: we need to emit less to begin with.

Carbon Offsetting vs. Emissions Reduction: No Comparison

Companies, and even governments, are now focusing on “net-zero” targets. But the study shows there’s no substitute for cutting emissions at the source.

Technologies like Direct Air Capture are extremely expensive and still limited in reach. Tree planting is cheaper, but it can’t scale to cover global emissions without massive land use tradeoffs. And expecting trees to make up for decades of fossil fuel use is unrealistic.

The conclusion? It’s cheaper and more sustainable to stop extracting fossil fuels than to burn them and try to offset it later.

So Should We Stop Planting Trees?

Not at all. Forest conservation and restoration are still essential. Forests store carbon, protect biodiversity, and support ecosystems.

But we need to stop seeing tree planting as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card for polluters. Natural climate solutions should go hand-in-hand with real emissions cuts.

From Class Idea to Climate Reality

That one class conversation inspired me to explore the science behind tree planting and climate action. And I realized how important it is to understand the bigger picture.

Planting trees is good. But fighting climate change requires more than good intentions; it requires deep, structural change.

Let’s keep asking questions, learning, and pushing for real solutions.

— Morena

Curious about how to spot false environmental promises? Check out my post on greenwashing and how to combat it.