Green Leader Elizabeth May says Canada needs to plant billions of trees to fight climate change.
May says the Greens promise, if elected, to plant 10 billion trees over the next 30 years to reduce carbon and recover vast areas of land devastated by wildfires across Canada.
She says the Green plan also involves employing jobless forest workers to plant trees and cutting fire-break areas to protect communities from future wildfires.
May did not have immediate budget estimates for the forests initiative but says money proposed for the Trans Mountain pipeline project and other current federal funds will help pay for the campaign pledge.
She says the Greens’ “Mission: Possible” climate plan includes halting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and cutting Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent below 2005 levels over the next decade.
May says the plan also calls for more protections for remaining old-growth forests, especially on southern Vancouver Island, and planting more trees in urban areas.