Emit Now: Rewild Later?

'Rewilding' is the restoration of natural ecosystems. It's one potential counter to climate breakdown. Eleanor Salter says that, although many people are enthusiastic about rewilding, some 'environmentally-motivated' land purchases by the super-rich and big companies, have been dismissed as 'greenwashing' (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/28/rewilding-greenwash-land-schemes). Salter believes that, to be really beneficial, rewilding has to produce a reduction in current atmospheric carbon, rather than balancing them at net zero. In the case of the super-rich individuals and big business, 'rewilding' land is often bought and trees planted, to 'offset' the landowner's carbon emissions from other activities. In the UK, such offsetting is 'supercharged', Salter thinks, by government 'green' subsidies, like the environmental land management schemes for ex-farmland. The current system, in effect, dispenses impunity for corporations and the super-rich. These landowners can emit as much as they like (e.g. by encouraging space tourism or making extensive concert tours), so long as they plant sufficient trees later. Salter believes that local people and democratic institutions are really needed to develop genuinely effective rewilding of the environment. She thinks, ofsetting should only be encouraged for activities like steel-making.