Time for action?????? - reforest the oldest rainforest | 22 January 2023

Hi everyone,

As you might know I am running my first marathon to raise money for the oldest rainforest in the world, The Daintree Rainforest in Australia. Training has been hard (running 30-50km a week over the last 3 months) but totally worth it! Led by Barney Swan son of explorer Robert Swan and his team at Climate Force this reforestation project is unique. Learn more in the video below about why it matters and how you can help.

We got this. ??

Helena

Who is Barney Swan and what is Climate Force ??

ForceClimate Force is a charity founded by Barney Swan based in Australia. Son of explorer Robert Swan, Barney Swan is on a mission to design a more sustainable future. In 2017 he skied 1000 kilometres over 65 days to the South Pole, surviving using NASA designed solar ice melters, lithium batteries, and biofuel made from waste. The carbon positive journey marked the launch of the ClimateForce challenge, a collaborative mission to ‘clean-up’ 360 million tons of CO2 before the year 2025. More information on Climate Force here and on Barney Swan here.?

How can you support ??

With your donation you can help Climate Force grow trees in the oldest rainforest in the world, the Daintree rainforest in Australia. 1 hectare here has more biodiversity of flora and fauna than in all of Europe. Some of the trees here are 300 Million years old (what!?) Yes you heard it right. That's why these seeds are precious and why we want the forest to grow. Specifically the donations will go to expand the tree nursery from 30’000 to 60' 000 trees as well as buying, gravel, irrigation, shade cloth, earthworks, metal fittings and tables to expand and double the current green house capacity. This is the beginning of a larger decade long reforestation project. Over 5 years 213 hectares will be restored, 45 '000+ tonnes of carbon will be sequestered, and 250' 000 trees will be planted. Watch the video for more information.

Call for action

I would be so honoured if you could make a small donation to support the beginning of a decade long project. Donate here.

So what? ??

The UN estimates that we need to protect at least 30% of forest and ocean by 2030 to reverse the current destruction of nature. We are currently 17% of forest and 10% of ocean protected. So conservation efforts need to ramp up significantly by 2030.

Why am I supporting this conservation project and what happens after the crowdfunding campaign?

I know Barney and I trust him.? I am impressed with what he has achieved. In 18 months he has raised $1.5M in capital to buy the land, hired a team and is now working on regenerating the land. My support to Climate Force goes beyond this campaign, I will support them with investor introductions as well as mentorship over the next decade.

4 good news to keep you going

?? The Great American EV Battery Revolution Might Finally Be Here (Dozens of companies have announced plans to open factories devoted to electric vehicle battery production, spurred by federal incentives and a growing market for cleaner cars. Under the Inflation Reduction Act,? Biden’s signature climate policy, Uncle Sam will start giving new tax credits in January for making critical technologies in the country.Bloomberg

?? The UK is on track for 50% of new cars to be electric by 2027, and almost 100% by 2030 - from about zero in 2016 (Carbontracker)?

?? Last Slovak coal mines to close in 2023 (Euractiv)

?? Ukraine war transformed Germany's approach to de-carbonization, with much improved speed and scale, including going 100% renewables by 2035, earmarking €200b to fund green transformation, zapping Nord Stream 2 (Reuters)?

2 Most thought provoking articles of the week in sustainability

??Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad (Bloomberg)

??Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows (Guardian)

One quote to keep you decarbonising hard ??

"While taking the train instead of plane makes you feel better, Razzouk contends that individual behaviour tweaks are mostly a distraction encouraged by those with no interest in driving real change – the fossil fuel industry, which invented the idea of a "carbon footprint" to shift the blame for climate meltdown from itself to you.

Yes, individual action matters. But we should pick our battles. Taking big polluters to court, backing the right NGOs, and taking to the streets in protest are just three things we can do, Razzouk suggests."

Lebanese british investment banker turned cleantech entrepreneur Assaad Razzouk in his new book “Saving the planet without the bullshit”

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