A ‘high-tech’ reforestation company started wildfires in Spain

A Dutch company that says it can help businesses is “Turning [their] CO2 into forests” using data, drones and other technologies to fuel wildfires in Spain this week that burned tens of thousands of hectares and prompted the evacuation of 2,000 people.

as if press release published on the website, Land lifeBased in the Netherlands, a fire broke out on July 18, 2010 at a site in the Ateca region of Aragon, Spain. Later this summer. The company said in a release that no one was injured, but officials told local broadcasters that more than 34,500 hectares (14,000 acres) of land had already burned, and evacuation orders had been issued in five municipalities, including a nursing home.

Spain a Hell Dry, hot weather this month. A scorching heat wave caused 1,900 deaths. Both Spain and Portugal. More than 30 fires were burning across Spain this weekend; Temperatures in Some parts of the country were hit Friday, 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

Land Life said in a release that the contractor has “extensive experience in the area” and all “proper licenses issued by local and state authorities.” But local authorities They criticized. The company to work in the middle of the day during peak wildfires. The local paper, Heraldo de Aragon, also reported The company’s planting activity continued to work in the area after a fire of about 50 hectares was extinguished on July 20, 2009. Earther asked Land Life about that report and a spokesperson referred us to it. press release On the company’s website.

“They are going to reclaim 200 hectares of land and burn at least 1,000 50-year-old pine trees,” Bubirka mayor Antonio Borke said. They spoke Province of Aragon.

No one will argue. Trees are vital to helping the planet. Afforestation and reforestation are vital to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, and terrestrial plants do a good job of sequestering carbon, such as trees. And the demand for companies like Land Life is high: the company He scored. 3.5 million euros for Series A funding in 2018.

Unfortunately, there are many problems with the model of using trees as a proxy for climate action. Trees are not a mathematical formula, and compensation programs, even with the best intentions, Seriously imagine How much carbon actually counts. The concept of allowing companies to continue polluting just because they bought a few acres of forest doesn’t help with the deep decarbonization that’s so badly needed, especially given the extent of our carbon addiction: The New York Times Calculated In the year Starting in 2019, offsetting US emissions would require planting four times the size of California’s forests. In that light, Land Life promises to help companies “move forward [their] A “sustainability agenda to offset business CO2 emissions and climate footprint” sounds like little more than greenwashing.

Many powerful forces are too slow to pull the trigger on the efforts of big carbon directors – simply Love Use tree planting as a stopgap for the actual task. Te GOP made one Plant a trillion trees A cornerstone of recent climate policy. It’s ironic that the climate “solutions” conservatives want to deploy involve a company racing to plant saplings on a climate-damaged hellscape. Other companies can Claimed carbon offsets –And then burning a fire because it’s so dry. Nature seems to be telling us so. All the trees we plant won’t make a difference without the necessary deep maintenance.