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| General election 2019: Tories and Lib Dems in rival tree-planting pledges | General election 2019: Tories and Lib Dems in rival tree-planting pledges |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The Conservative Party has said it will plant 30 million trees a year by 2025 if it wins the general election - as the Liberal Democrats pledged to plant twice as many trees in the same period. | The Conservative Party has said it will plant 30 million trees a year by 2025 if it wins the general election - as the Liberal Democrats pledged to plant twice as many trees in the same period. |
| The Tories' £640m fund would be used to plant trees and restore peatland. | The Tories' £640m fund would be used to plant trees and restore peatland. |
| Labour dismissed the scheme and said the prime minister had an "atrocious environmental record". | Labour dismissed the scheme and said the prime minister had an "atrocious environmental record". |
| The Lib Dems would plant 60 million trees a year across the UK by 2025, leader Jo Swinson said. | |
| Under the Conservatives' scheme, branded the Nature for Climate fund, the party said it would treble the tree-planting rate to cover 30,000 hectares - meaning approximately 30 million trees - every year by the end of the next Parliament in 2025. | Under the Conservatives' scheme, branded the Nature for Climate fund, the party said it would treble the tree-planting rate to cover 30,000 hectares - meaning approximately 30 million trees - every year by the end of the next Parliament in 2025. |
| One hectare is 100m x 100m in size. | One hectare is 100m x 100m in size. |
| The Conservatives' fund would cover England, but the party said it would work with devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to increase tree planting. | The Conservatives' fund would cover England, but the party said it would work with devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to increase tree planting. |
| It means plans for the Northern Forest in north-west England and the Great Northumberland Forest would be expanded, while trees would also be planted in urban areas and in new forests, the Tories said. | It means plans for the Northern Forest in north-west England and the Great Northumberland Forest would be expanded, while trees would also be planted in urban areas and in new forests, the Tories said. |
| The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) - an advisory group of experts in science, economics, and business - recommends 30,000 hectares of woodland should be planted annually. | The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) - an advisory group of experts in science, economics, and business - recommends 30,000 hectares of woodland should be planted annually. |
| Less than half that amount was planted in the UK in the year to March 2019. | Less than half that amount was planted in the UK in the year to March 2019. |
| Green battleground | Green battleground |
| We now have yet another green battleground in this election campaign: trees. | We now have yet another green battleground in this election campaign: trees. |
| After claim and counter claim about everything from a ban on fracking to improving flood defences to reducing carbon emissions, there's a flurry about forests. | After claim and counter claim about everything from a ban on fracking to improving flood defences to reducing carbon emissions, there's a flurry about forests. |
| The Conservatives say they'll plant at least 30 million more trees every year, a pledge that is roughly in line with a recommendation from the government's official climate advisers. But that would represent a massive increase compared with earlier targets set by the government and, as the other parties are keen to point out, these have not been met. | The Conservatives say they'll plant at least 30 million more trees every year, a pledge that is roughly in line with a recommendation from the government's official climate advisers. But that would represent a massive increase compared with earlier targets set by the government and, as the other parties are keen to point out, these have not been met. |
| For their part, the Liberal Democrats have gone much further than the Conservatives by promising to plant 60 million trees a year - that's double the Tory number - arguing that that's needed to help fight climate change. | For their part, the Liberal Democrats have gone much further than the Conservatives by promising to plant 60 million trees a year - that's double the Tory number - arguing that that's needed to help fight climate change. |
| The Labour Party says its plan for trees, when it comes, will be guided by the science. | The Labour Party says its plan for trees, when it comes, will be guided by the science. |
| Experts in forestry say that a huge programme of tree planting is needed if the UK is to have any chance of reducing its carbon emissions to effectively zero. | Experts in forestry say that a huge programme of tree planting is needed if the UK is to have any chance of reducing its carbon emissions to effectively zero. |
| They also say that the aim, though difficult, is feasible but will depend on careful planning - "to get the right trees in the right places", as one specialist put it to me. | They also say that the aim, though difficult, is feasible but will depend on careful planning - "to get the right trees in the right places", as one specialist put it to me. |
| He also said the effort had to be properly funded and "joined-up", by which he means co-ordinating many different government agencies, forestry organisations and farmers - no easy task. | He also said the effort had to be properly funded and "joined-up", by which he means co-ordinating many different government agencies, forestry organisations and farmers - no easy task. |
| Conservative leader Boris Johnson said there was "nothing more conservative than protecting our environment". | Conservative leader Boris Johnson said there was "nothing more conservative than protecting our environment". |
| He said the measures would "sit alongside our world-leading commitment" to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. | He said the measures would "sit alongside our world-leading commitment" to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. |
| The Conservatives look set to use the "Vote Blue, Go Green" slogan adopted by David Cameron in 2010, which critics say he abandoned once he got into power. | The Conservatives look set to use the "Vote Blue, Go Green" slogan adopted by David Cameron in 2010, which critics say he abandoned once he got into power. |
| The Lib Dems said its "ambitious" proposals to plant 40,000 hectares - or, it estimated, 60 million trees - every year would increase UK forest cover by one million hectares by 2045. | The Lib Dems said its "ambitious" proposals to plant 40,000 hectares - or, it estimated, 60 million trees - every year would increase UK forest cover by one million hectares by 2045. |
| The "largest tree-planting programme in UK history" would be part of the party's plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the same year. | The "largest tree-planting programme in UK history" would be part of the party's plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the same year. |
| "Only the Liberal Democrats have a radical plan to make a real impact in the fight against climate change and build a brighter future for our planet," Ms Swinson said. | "Only the Liberal Democrats have a radical plan to make a real impact in the fight against climate change and build a brighter future for our planet," Ms Swinson said. |
| Labour's shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman said the Conservative Party's failure to meet previous tree-planting targets showed "they aren't serious about this agenda". | Labour's shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman said the Conservative Party's failure to meet previous tree-planting targets showed "they aren't serious about this agenda". |
| "When Labour comes forward with its own ambitious proposals as part of our Plan For Nature, they will be informed by what the science says is necessary and possible - not by what Boris Johnson thinks he needs to do to greenwash his atrocious environmental record," she added. | "When Labour comes forward with its own ambitious proposals as part of our Plan For Nature, they will be informed by what the science says is necessary and possible - not by what Boris Johnson thinks he needs to do to greenwash his atrocious environmental record," she added. |
| Mr Johnson's party also announced a £500m "Blue Planet fund" across the next five years to help support developing countries in protecting oceans. | Mr Johnson's party also announced a £500m "Blue Planet fund" across the next five years to help support developing countries in protecting oceans. |
| The sum would be funded by the budget for international aid, the Conservative Party said. | The sum would be funded by the budget for international aid, the Conservative Party said. |
| The money would go towards, for example, UK satellites monitoring marine environments and ensuring protected areas were not subject to illegal fishing. | The money would go towards, for example, UK satellites monitoring marine environments and ensuring protected areas were not subject to illegal fishing. |