Do Something!
Everyone can re-green & cool the earth: great work has started, but we need >100 times more and NOW.
Individuals
Nothing happens until you act
Corporates
Serve stakeholders, with sustainability elevated above short-term profits.
Governments
Support long-term resiliency, reject inertia and properly value ecosystems.
Six Actions Framework.
Six actions can kick start a rapid cycle of natural cooling.
© Alisdair Ferrie 2020
Everyone can re-green & cool the earth.
Actions
Bolster the Foundations
+ Overall
- Stop run off
- Halt erosion
- Avoid chemicals
+ Individuals
- Lobby for dual water supplies
- Low stream taps and low flush toilets
- Clean up local waterways
- Collect rainwater
+ Corporates
- Harvest and recycle rainwater
- Include water risk measures in investment decisions
+ Governments
- Create separate drinking and utility water systems
- Maximise rainwater capture
- Water planning
Bolster the Foundations
+ Overall
- Boost biology:
- Inoculation
- Compost
- Regenerative practices
- Holistic/managed grazing
+ Individuals
- Make compost
- Separate veggies for organic waste
- Buy organic produce
+ Corporates
- Support regenerative practices across supply chain
- Revitalise your land
+ Governments
- Support soil R&D
- Fund farmer transition to regen
- Patent processes not biology
- Legislate to reduce soil degrading chemicals
- Educate farmers and industry
Put Carbon Back in Plants & Soil
+ Overall
- Punish arson
- Mow, cut or graze crops, grasslands & forest floor
+ Individuals
- Minimise fires
- Go electric
- Reduce use of A/C
- Walk/public transport
+ Corporates
- No burning in supply chain
- Go electric
- Adopt carbon credits for regreening
+ Governments
- Ban burning and punish enablers
- Subsidise farmer shift to cutting/grazing techniques
- Promote/reward renewable electrics
- Educate public
Put Carbon Back in Plants & Soil
+ Overall
- Keep big trees
- Infill native planting
- Shelterwoods
- Stop further destruction
+ Individuals
- Buy sustainably sourced wood and paper products
- Support/visit areas of ecological value
+ Corporates
- Protect existing trees
- Use only sustainable wood products
- “Adopt a park” charity
+ Governments
- Protect and celebrate parks and natural forests
- Support carbon credit trading
- Ban manufacture or import of unsustainable products
Put Carbon Back in Plants & Soil
+ Overall
- 365 day cover
- Less chemicals & tilling
- Multi cropping
- Livestock on land
- Pre-monsoon dry seeding
- ZBNF etc.
+ Individuals
- Make compost
- Plant your space
- Lobby to replant local degraded land
- Support local organic producers
+ Corporates
- Use regeneratitve products in supply chain
- Pay for CO2 produced
- Maximize planting on corporate land
+ Governments
- Intensive urban planting
- Tax breaks to regen ag and regreening
- Sequester carbon programs: no-till, etc
- Stop subsidies to inefficient producers
Sustain
+ Overall
- Organic
- More veggies
- Grass fed meat
- Reduce wastage
- ‘Lowest mile’
+ Individuals
- Exercise more
- Eat lower down the food chain – more veggies,grass fed beef
- Don’t eat if unsustainably sourced
+ Corporates
- Provide healthy eating options
- Recycling culture
- Promote staff exercise and dieting
+ Governments
- Educate re diet and exercise
- Promote recycling
- Sponsor sports
- Tax unhealthy foods
Imagine a bright future: 2025 FT, NYT, Times
Some great organisations are undertaking greening - - focused on regeneration, preservation and reforestation.
Global Evergreening Alliance
GEA leads massive land restoration programmes delivered efficiently through numerous member organisations and landowners/farmers. “Green up to Cool Down” programme aims to sequester over 5-6 BtC per year
Members include: World Vision, Care, Conservation International, Catholic Relief Services, WRI, The Nature Conservancy, Oxfam etc.
Focus on “EverGreen Agriculture” integrating regenerative farming , trees with crop and livestock production
Everything measured using multiple methods and auditable
BGCI - Botanic Gardens Conservation International
Largest network of plant conservation experts in the world working together on specific problems
Leading restoration projects in partnership with over 625 Botanic Gardens in over 100 countries
Global Tree Search - only global database of all known tree species and country level distributions. Essential for planting “native” trees !
