China is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to getting its own house in order.
As part of its cleanup campaign, China has been installing vast amounts of renewable energy from wind, solar, and hydroelectric sources and decommissioning coal-fired power stations as quickly as possible. It is also pushing the EV revolution hard with both financial and regulatory tools and may be one of the first nations to ban the sale of cars with internal combustion engines.
Now China has announced a new reforestation program that will plant enough trees in 2018 to cover an area the size of Ireland. Forests already cover 21.7% of the country. That figure is set to increase to 23% by 2020 and 26% by 2035.
China has invested more than $65 billion in new forests in the past 5 years. That push has brought the total amount of forested land in the country to 208 million hectares — or just over 800,000 square miles. The new reforestration program will take place in Hebei province in the northeast, Qinghai province on the Tibetan plateau, and in the Hunshandake Desert in Inner Mongolia.
India should also take a cue and start implementing similar policies before it is too late…