The ambitious targets were first reported by the Irish Times on Saturday 31 August, which notes that targets for new forestery were part of the government’s climate action plan released in June this year.
The sweeping proposal hopes to see Ireland transition to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 through a series of measures, including a new carbon tax, increased investment in renewable energy and shift in agriculture and land use.
“The climate action plan commits to delivering an expansion of forestry planting and soil management to ensure that carbon abatement from land-use is delivered over the period 2021 to 2030 and in the years beyond,” a spokesperson for Ireland’s Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment stated. “The target for new forestation is approximately 22 million trees per year. Over the next 20 years, the target is to plant 440 million.”
Ethiopia said in July that it had planted more than 350 million trees in a single day as part of a nationwide effort to combat deforestation and global warming. India had a similar mass planting initiative in 2016 when 50 million trees were planted in a day.
