WEBVTT 00:01.133 --> 00:02.500 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% - [Narrator] Could restoring lost forests 00:02.500 --> 00:05.633 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% absorb enough carbon to help slow climate change? 00:06.933 --> 00:09.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% To find out, Tom and a team built a computer model 00:09.900 --> 00:12.200 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% to estimate the potential. 00:12.200 --> 00:14.633 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% - So we collect data from all over the planet, 00:14.633 --> 00:16.433 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% and that can show us there's about 00:16.433 --> 00:18.100 align:left position:15% line:5% size:75% 0.9 billion hectares of land 00:18.100 --> 00:20.800 align:left position:25% line:5% size:65% outside of urban and agricultural land 00:20.800 --> 00:23.500 align:left position:12.5% line:5% size:77.5% where forests might naturally be able to regenerate. 00:24.900 --> 00:27.700 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% That's a big chunk of land that would be able to capture 00:27.700 --> 00:30.266 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% a staggering amount of carbon. 00:31.400 --> 00:32.700 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% - [Narrator] Calculation suggested 00:32.700 --> 00:35.133 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% that to capture this carbon, 00:35.133 --> 00:39.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% there was enough land to support an extra trillion trees, 00:39.400 --> 00:42.866 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% a seductive idea that made headlines around the world. 00:43.966 --> 00:47.066 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% - It just went viral beyond anything 00:47.066 --> 00:48.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I could have been prepared for. 00:48.466 --> 00:51.500 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% And I think that alliteration, trillion trees, 00:51.500 --> 00:53.600 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% was both a blessing and a curse. 00:53.600 --> 00:55.366 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% In one way, it captured everyone's imagination. 00:55.366 --> 00:57.000 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% "Great, we bring back a trillion trees 00:57.000 --> 00:58.533 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% and we're gonna be flying." 00:58.533 --> 01:01.266 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% But the downside was everybody thought 01:01.266 --> 01:03.000 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% that meant planting trees. 01:03.000 --> 01:07.866 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% Somehow it wasn't about the forest, it was about the trees, 01:07.866 --> 01:11.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and that is where things started to go wrong. 01:11.800 --> 01:15.033 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% It nearly finished all of our careers. 01:17.000 --> 01:19.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Companies and governments were under a lot of pressure 01:19.200 --> 01:20.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to limit their emissions. 01:20.933 --> 01:22.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They saw this as a chance 01:22.733 --> 01:25.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to just bang a load of trees in the ground, 01:25.433 --> 01:28.100 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% and then they don't need to cut emissions. 01:28.100 --> 01:32.033 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% The projects denounced as a result of our paper saying, 01:32.033 --> 01:34.933 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% "Don't worry, we're gonna buy up land 01:34.933 --> 01:36.400 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% and we're gonna plant trees." 01:37.366 --> 01:39.500 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% - In the rush to grow trees, 01:39.500 --> 01:42.233 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% people ignored the supporting environment 01:42.233 --> 01:43.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that exists in a forest. 01:45.333 --> 01:47.233 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% - There are places on the planet 01:47.233 --> 01:50.633 align:left position:27.5% line:5% size:62.5% where biodiversity continues to thrive, 01:50.633 --> 01:55.200 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% and those places are by and large in indigenous homelands. 01:56.833 --> 01:59.166 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% Biodiversity is the sum total 01:59.166 --> 02:01.600 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% of all of the organisms that are here, 02:01.600 --> 02:04.733 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% and you think, well, why does it matter? 02:04.733 --> 02:08.300 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% In a forest which is self generating, 02:08.300 --> 02:11.200 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% you get all the different forms of trees 02:11.200 --> 02:13.433 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and the understory and the mosses and the fungi 02:13.433 --> 02:16.133 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% and the birds all in relationship. 02:16.133 --> 02:17.733 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% It's this beautiful web 02:17.733 --> 02:21.300 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% that doesn't really exist in a monocultural plantation. 02:23.033 --> 02:25.133 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% - When Tom's paper was published, 02:25.133 --> 02:29.233 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% many quite literally couldn't see the forest for the trees. 02:30.633 --> 02:34.366 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% By planting rows of single tree species to capture carbon 02:34.366 --> 02:37.133 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% instead of reducing carbon emissions. 02:38.533 --> 02:41.600 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% - This greenwashing is one of the most insidious threats 02:41.600 --> 02:43.733 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% to climate change and biodiversity. 02:43.733 --> 02:47.000 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% And through this paper, in some people's minds, 02:47.000 --> 02:49.500 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% I become synonymous with greenwashing. 02:51.500 --> 02:54.566 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% I still regret how I handled that paper. 02:55.766 --> 02:57.166 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% It's the hardest thing to be hated 02:57.166 --> 02:58.633 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% by people that you agree with.