Trees are some of our best allies in solving the climate crisis.
By Frank Lowenstein, Brian Donahue and David Foster
[Mr. Lowenstein is the chief conservation officer of the New England Forestry Foundation. Mr. Donahue is an associate professor at Brandeis University. Mr. Foster is the director of the Harvard Forest and the president of the Highstead Foundation.]
Across North America, trees stand ready to help us solve the climate crisis. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their wood. One way to respond to a challenge from the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, to seek “bold action and much greater ambition” on climate change is to protect forests from development, improve forest management and use sustainably harvested wood to build tall buildings. This will allow us to pump carbon from the atmosphere and store it both in forests and in cities. It will also support rural economies, improve wildlife habitat and create more affordable housing.