Trees and climate
You will find many numbers online. The honest answer: it depends on the tree, and most of the carbon is stored slowly, over decades. Here is how it works.
CHF 5 per tree, VAT included
of a tree's dry wood is carbon. This is the default the IPCC uses for forest biomass.
IPCC Guidelines, 2006of CO2 for every kilogram of carbon a tree stores: a CO2 molecule weighs 44/12 times its carbon.
IPCC Guidelines, 2006of CO2 is held in a tree with 500 kg of dry wood: 500 × 0.47 × 3.67.
Our calculation from IPCC factorsHow much CO2 a tree takes up depends on its species, its age, the soil and the climate. A seedling stores very little in its first years. As the tree grows, it adds more wood every year, and with it more carbon. A forest stores most of its carbon over decades, not in its first season.
Trees build their wood from carbon dioxide in the air. To estimate how much CO2 a tree holds, start from the weight of its dry wood, above and below the ground. About half of it is carbon: the IPCC uses 47%. Every kilogram of carbon was once 3.67 kilograms of CO2. So a tree with 500 kg of dry wood holds about 860 kg of CO2.
It is a widely quoted figure for a grown tree, but its original source is hard to trace, and real numbers vary a lot by species, age and site. A young tree takes up far less. We would rather explain how it works than repeat a number we cannot check.
We plant the three native trees of the northern forest. Birch grows fast when it is young and brings light to a new forest. Spruce and pine keep growing for a century and more, adding wood, and carbon, year after year. Together they make a mixed forest that is full of life.
A tree planted this year will take decades to store most of its carbon, and every forest grows differently. That is why we talk about real trees and a growing forest, not about kilograms per order. Plant because you want more forest in the world. The carbon follows, slowly.
We plant on former grassland, so every tree becomes part of a forest that did not exist before.
We look after the young forest as it grows, so the trees can store carbon for a long time.
Updates at every step and a yearly impact report.
One tree costs CHF 5.
It goes on our leaderboard, or stays hidden if you prefer.
We plant in the next season and report on how it grows.
We don't promise a number per tree. A young tree takes up very little at first and stores most of its carbon over decades, and every site grows differently.
Yes, but slowly at first. A seedling is small, so it holds little carbon. The yearly uptake grows as the tree grows.
Yes. Fallen leaves, needles and roots add carbon to the soil over time, which is one more reason to look after a forest for decades.
