Since the Paris Agreement, tree plantations have proliferated as purported carbon sinks and generators of carbon credits. This is a lucrative business that is also used to clean up the image of large companies. A recent article by Climate Tracker reveals some of the dirty ways companies use tree plantations to ironically promote themselves as clean. The cases come from Paraguay and Colombia. In the former, Apple uses monocultures that it presents as “forests,” in which it uses agrochemicals that are banned or restricted in other countries. Its activities violate laws and put populations at risk, especially children. Meanwhile in Colombia, the companies responsible admit to using harmful chemicals, such as glyphosate, which can accumulate in fish – the main source of protein for the population. These companies' activities are also transforming the savanna into huge monocultures.
To learn more about the contradictions and impacts of these plantations, read the article in Spanish here