Comforting seriousness

How refreshing to at last see a serious proposal for climate action (New plan to reforest 7.8% of country to fight climate change, Nov 29). The plan recognises that simply reducing emissions won’t solve the problem and that huge efforts to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations to below 350ppm are the only way to prevent runaway global warming.

By focusing on native bush restoration, the biodiversity and ecosystems services benefits will also be substantial. While the cost, at $8-12 billion by 2050, may seem high, compare this with the $9-14b cost of Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland floods and it looks like a bargain, given the plan would remove the equivalent of 20 years’ worth of emissions by 2100.

By contrast, on the very next page was a hugely underwhelming story (How the coalition plans to deal with climate). A simple choice, act now or drown later.

John Gould, St Martins