{"id":165816,"date":"2020-03-13T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T19:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/can-fashion-really-tree-plant-its-way-to-sustainability\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T12:04:59","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T12:04:59","slug":"can-fashion-really-tree-plant-its-way-to-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/can-fashion-really-tree-plant-its-way-to-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Can fashion really tree-plant its way to sustainability?"},"content":{"rendered":"
At the recent Stella McCartney AW20 show in Paris guests were gifted a sapling. Wrapped in paper and tied with string, a note was attached which read: \u201cWe should all be carbon neutral now. We are absorbing the CO2 emitted by the show to make this a completely carbon neutral experience<\/strong>. Planting this tree is part of the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
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How many of these young trees made it off the Eurostar and into the ground we\u2019ll probably never know. The prior season\u00a0Dior grew a secret garden at the famous\u00a0Longchamp Racecourse<\/strong> in Paris to stage its show and afterwards the trees were planted around the French capital to help offset the carbon emissions of the show.<\/p>\n
New trees have become part of some quantum, climate change, environmental maths equation and, seemingly, the answer to many of our climate change woes. It\u2019s an easy solution to carry-on-as-you-were by simply chucking money at the problem and hoping re-greening, by randomly planting new trees, is the band aid needed.<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Stella McCartney sapling<\/p><\/div>\n
The Committee on Climate Change says the UK will have to plant 1.5 billion trees if it is to\u00a0meet its pledge<\/strong> to reach net zero\u00a0emissions by 2050 \u2013 and this needs to \u201chappen quickly\u201d. UK woodland cover needs to increase from 13% to 17%. It recommended\u00a0that\u00a030,000 hectares be planted every\u00a0year, but if other carbon-reducing targets are not met, it said\u00a0this will have to go up to 50,000.\u00a0In 2018, the UK planted 13,400 hectares of woodland.<\/p>\n
In the recent Labour 2019 manifesto, it said, if elected, it would plant 2 billion trees<\/strong> in the next 20 years. That would have been the equivalent of 100 million trees a year; the equivalent of three trees planted every second, day and night. These numbers are staggering and make the whole thing look too simplistic and far-fetched. Where would they all go?<\/strong> It's as though all these trees will just magically appear. Done. Fixed.<\/p>\n