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Can Planting Trees Make a City More Equitable?

Cities across the U.S. are pledging to plant trees and restore urban forests to combat climate change and cool off disadvantaged communities.

New York planted its one millionth tree in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx in 2015. More cities have joined the movement as a way to reduce carbon emissions and promote equity. 

New York planted its one millionth tree in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx in 2015. More cities have joined the movement as a way to reduce carbon emissions and promote equity. 

Photographer: Andy Katz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Patrick Sisson

As the U.S. grapples with natural disasters and racial injustice, one coalition of U.S. cities, companies and nonprofits sees a way to make an impact on both fronts: trees.

Specifically, they committed to planting and restoring 855 million of them by 2030 as part of the Trillion Trees Initiative, a global push to encourage reforestation to capture carbon and slow the effects of global heating. Announced on Thursday, it’s the first nationwide pledge to the program, and additionally noteworthy because the U.S. group — which includes Microsoft Corp. and Mastercard Inc. — will focus on urban plantings as means of improving air quality in communities that have been disproportionately affected by pollution and climate change.