The race to net zero has largely focused on high-tech solutions that aim to reduce how much carbon we produce, but we can’t forget about one critical low-tech – and low-cost – way to help us achieve our climate ambitions: trees.
Trees have forever been one of the best carbon-mitigating solutions. The average tree absorbs about 22 pounds of carbon dioxide per year during its first 20 years of growth. A 10-hectare forest absorbs the equivalent of 22 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is about what five cars driving nearly 18,000 km a year produce. Against that backdrop, Canada’s estimated 367 million hectares of forest should be a significant asset in the fight against climate change. However, between wildfires, invasive insect species outbreaks, droughts and deforestation, the country’s forests are now actually emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb.
If the world is going to reach its net-zero commitments by 2050, it must make reforestation part of its approach. Indeed, global efforts are underway to plant billions (and even trillions) more carbon-absorbing trees, including the UN-endorsed Trillion Tree Campaign, the World Economic Forum’s 1t.org, The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees and our own federal government’s 2 Billion Trees commitment.
BMO is also doing its part to “Grow the Good” and support reforestation projects. For the past four years, BMO Capital Markets has dedicated all the profits from one day of trading to a program called Trees from Trades. As of 2024, the initiative has raised enough funds to plant 440,000 trees. BMO Private Wealth has partnered with Tree Canada to plant a tree for each BMO Nesbitt Burns client account that goes paperless. Learn more about this initiative here.
A host of benefits
Reforestation will do more than just help pull more carbon out of the atmosphere. Trees can mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing soil erosion and slowing water flow, both of which can help prevent events like flooding and landslides. Urban forests, in particular, are critical in mitigating extreme weather events like flooding and extreme heat. A tree’s root system slows the flow of water during a torrential downpour, which can prevent city sewers from becoming overwhelmed by stormwater runoff, as was the case in Toronto this year.
More than anything, planting trees is an activity anyone can do – whether physically or through a donation – making it an accessible way to feel like you’re doing something yourself to fight climate change.
“At BMO, we take every opportunity to ‘Grow the Good’ and help build a more sustainable world. Planting trees is just one way we are helping to support communities, build climate resilience and restore nature,” says Melissa Fifield, Head of BMO Climate Institute.
