A Forest of Promises — Isle of Man Green Party

On the very day that the Time is Now Climate Crisis protest was taking place in Douglas, the Isle of Man Chief Minister Howard Quayle made an announcement in St Johns of a tree planting initiative where 85,000 trees are proposed to be planted in the Isle of Man over the next 5 years to ‘offset the Island's CO2 emissions’ (see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-48762373).

The Isle of Man Green Party supports the planting of trees in the Isle of Man, whether to improve the ecology and biodiversity of the Biosphere Island or as means to offset carbon emissions.

The Isle of Man Green Party has not yet considered a detailed explanation of the Government’s plans, such as the type and suitability of trees that are planned to be planted or whether there will be grants provided to landowners to encourage tree planting, and any implications of the same. The Green Party observes that there are also important considerations in respect of the most beneficial sites to plant trees in the Island.

However, the reality of the situation in view of the challenge before us (in the Isle of Man and the World collectively) is that the planting of 85,000 trees is a token gesture. It is incredibly difficult to quantify the carbon sequestration of an individual tree, being dependent on factors such as the climate, type of tree and the age of the tree. On the basis that the trees will be young trees, by 2025, assuming all 85,000 trees survive, the annual carbon sequestration of the planted trees may be in the region of 950 tonnes. That is the equivalent of the carbon emitted by 95 people in the Isle of Man or 0.1% of the population (the emissions of only 63 people if account is made for ‘offshored emissions’).

The emissions per person in the Isle of Man have stayed the same for 29 years since 1990. That is 29 years where the Isle of Man Government has chosen to fail in its commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The planting of trees, although an important and beneficial endeavour, cannot be used by the Isle of Man Government to delay the crucial and immediate implementation of policies to reduce our carbon emissions. Professor Kevin Anderson and Professor Bows Larkin of Manchester University, who presented to the Isle of Man Government in 2016, have stated that emissions must be reduced in the region of 12% every year until zero emissions by 2035 to avoid catastrophic climate crisis in both the Isle of Man and the rest of the World (see: https://kevinanderson.info/blog/category/quick-comment/)

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