Climate Change is advancing rapidly and within 8 1/2 years humanity has to choose between ending all fossil fuel usage or destroying the climate to a degree that the entire civilization is at risk. It is clear, which choice humanity is taking, as fossil fuel use is still increasing. Neither politicians nor citizens seem to have the power to reduce fossil fuel usage fast enough.
Global Solutions Foundation is designing a last-ditch effort to keep the amount of CO2 under the critical line. As the efforts to lower the output of CO2 are too small and are often swallowed by economic growth, our plan is to remove the same amount of CO2 from the atmosphere that is being put in by the burning of fossil fuels.
The – truly magical – tool is a mostly unknown tree that we call Life Tree. It grows much faster than normal trees and therefore removes more CO2. Most of the mass of a tree is made out of the CO2 in the air together with water. In a way, one could say that trees are frozen air. The huge leaves of the Life Tree collect sunlight and use the energy to split the C (carbon) atom from the O2 (oxygen). They exhale the oxygen and build the tree mass from the carbon.
2-3 million acres of the tree have already been planted and the wood has been in use for thousands of years in China and Japan.
Global Solutions Foundation is cooperating with research institutions, growers and plant experts across the world. Its objective is to facilitate the setup and the operation of Life Tree Forests. Each forest is a complete system that improves soils, provides food and good jobs. Each forest includes a sawmill and biochar production to make sure that the carbon in harvested trees is locked in.
Most people worry about the cost of keeping the planet alive. Environmentalists demand funding from the government, which is an uphill battle because our economic system assigns a value of zero to the survival of civilization. In the contrary we believe that there are a lot of business opportunities that make money while supporting the environment. The book Drawdown estimates the combined profit (they call it savings) at US$73.9 trillion.
Life Tree Forests produce valuable timber that can be sold or used on site. That makes our model a profitable enterprise rather than a cost to economies. At the scale and speed we need to progress, we need the forces of capitalism aligned with our purpose and build our movement on the energy of entrepreneurs.
To that end, we are in the process of creating the 10,000 billionaire challenge. We are looking for 10,000 forest entrepreneurs to create a 40,000 acre Life Tree Forest somewhere in the world. Within 8 years each of them will own US$1 billion in wood. To become the world's first trillionaire, simply plant 40 million acres.
Global Solutions Foundation will provide these entrepreneurs with knowledge, plans, plants and connections to capital. Those who find it boring to only run after more money than they could ever spend, will find it rewarding to create forests in poor countries or near refugee camps and to plant food under the trees. The timber will provide houses and raw material for small businesses. The biochar enhances food production and the leaves of the tree fertilize the ground.