Why This Conversation Matters

Tree planting has become a favourite climate habit. It feels simple. It feels hopeful. But this simplicity can hide a harder truth.

Derrick Emsley, co-founder of Tentree and Veritree, sees the gap between planting a sapling and restoring a living forest. He worries that tree planting can distract from deeper climate work when it is not done with care. As he put it,

“Tree planting is an input in pursuit of an outcome.”

That one line sets the tone. A forest is the outcome. Planting is just the start.

How the Story Begins

Derrick grew up in Saskatchewan. His first business began when he was sixteen. He and his brother planted trees on farmland because it felt like a direct way to help.

He remembers that early thinking clearly.

“We thought okay, you know, trees take carbon out of the air. We have a lot of marginal farmland. Why don’t we just plant trees on farmland?”

The idea had energy, but not expertise. They soon learned how complex restoration really is. Land, species, partners and long-term care all matter. Their first venture did not last, but it opened their eyes to the power of restoring nature.

They did not fall in love with carbon markets. They fell in love with reforestation.

The Turning Point

Tentree came next. The model was simple. For every product sold, ten trees would be planted. But the promise brought new pressure.

Derrick recalls the questions that kept coming up.

“Did the tree get planted? Did anybody else claim that same tree? Did it survive and was it even the right tree in the first place?”

The team struggled to find clear answers, so they built their own tools. They mapped planting sites. They checked survival. They built a system to track every project. The tool later became Veritree, a platform for monitoring and verification.

This shift from planting to proving changed how the work was done.

What Real Action Looks Like

Restoration projects now run through a full life cycle inside Veritree. Assessment. Design. Planting. Monitoring. Verification. Reporting. Inventory.

The goal is simple. Evidence. If a company says it supported a forest, there should be clear proof that the forest exists and grows.

Not every partner is accepted. Derrick shared why.

“We have said no to a ton of partnerships where we don’t believe the organisation is interested in doing this for the right reasons.”

Short-term tree planting is not enough. Long-term care matters. Many partners now commit for three to five years or more. A forest cannot be built on one-off gestures.

The Moral Tension

Tree planting sits in a tight moral space. It can help the climate. It can also distract.

Derrick described a pattern he sees across the sector.

“Tree planting as itself, if all we are doing is just putting sticks in the ground, that is performative.”

Performative planting creates numbers. Transformative planting creates forests. The difference is intention, method and time.

Derrick is also clear about the wider climate picture. Cutting emissions still comes first. Tree planting cannot be an excuse. It must be a support.

Why There Is Still Hope

Despite political noise around climate, support for nature is strong. Derrick shared research he heard during Climate Week.

“People were asked, do they feel we need to be restoring nature and restoring natural places. Ninety percent said yes.”

Nature still unites people. It offers a shared starting point when climate conversations feel divided. This gives restoration work a rare chance to grow.

Inside companies, the work is steady even if the public conversation is uneven. Many organisations are building nature strategies quietly and consistently.

The Takeaway

Tree planting became popular because it feels hopeful. The responsibility now is to keep that hope honest.

For Derrick, the future depends on one idea.

“If I could wave a magic wand, it would be to embed nature as infrastructure in every dollar we spend.”

Real restoration needs steady funding, long partnerships and honest reporting. It needs projects that put forests, not numbers, at the centre.

Trees can help the climate. But they only help when we treat them with care, patience and truth.

Responsibility begins with reality.