This millionaire has decided 47 -years of dropping everything and planting 1 trillion tree

A Climate It is an urgent problem, but the solution may be amazingly simple. At least, this is what you believe in Yishhan WongPrevious CEO do I responded And the former engineering director on Facebook.

After years in an elite Silicon ValleyHe dropped everything to focus on one task: planting trees, and many of them. Your goal? One trillion Among them.

Wong foundations Terraformation In 2020 to accelerate global reformulation.

The company not only funds agricultural projects, but also The local teams enable the restoration of deteriorating ecosystems and the creation of a sustainable carbon credits market. Today, it already works on five continents.

But why do you tell this story now? Because Wong is betting that the restoration of forests is the most efficient way – and practical – to capture carbon and combat climate change. In addition, Terraformation just launched a new project in the Congo Basin, in Cameroon, with plans to restore more than 11,000 hectares of forests and remove 4 million tons of Co₂ from the air.

“The Silicon Valley is great to sell technology, but in practice, it gives many problems,” says Wong. “To solve something big, you want as much technology as possible.”

From the engineer to the environment

Wong’s path is not the typical journey of an environmental activist. He started his career in Paypal Engineering and went through technology giants before he took Reddit in 2012 at the age of 34. He remained there until 2014.

In 2017, for a very hot day on the beach, he decided to investigate serious warming solutions. After analyzing all alternatives, he reached the conclusion that The trees were the best bet.

“We know how to grow trees. It is not a new technique and has a direct effect,” he says. But for a global reference, I realized that it would be necessary to solve structural challenges – such as financing, seed supply and effective management of cultivated areas.

Crinheon planting plan from trees

Inspired by the global movement that was launched in World Economic Forum in 2020Wong Heikal decided as “the acceleration of re -liberation”.

The company connects investors and forest restoration projects, which helps to convert forests into sustainable economic assets.

In practice, this means saving an exerciseand technology E Financing For those who want to grow trees and sell carbon balances.

Logic is simple: with the growth of trees and CO₂, these credits can be sold to companies that seek to compensate for their emissions. “There is no other business model that can mobilize a lot of money for environmental projects,” says Wong.

Carbon market challenge

The idea of ​​financing re -embarrassment by selling carbon balances is not new, but it has passed in recent years. Between 2022 and 2023, the volunteer carbon market collapsed, decorated with low -quality and non -transparent projects. Wong, however, See this as an opportunity.

“We have seen this happening before in technology. When the bubble explodes, those who survived are those who do the best job,” he says.

Repetition betting lies in credibility: projects that are closely monitored, strict review and scientific methodologies to ensure that forests actually kidnap carbon efficiently.

The future of the first

With five years of existence, repetition is still far from a trillion tree. But Wong believes that the key to success is not only the cultivation of forests, but to create a repeated model. He says, “We want to be copied.” “If we succeed well and in public places, others will follow.”

The great challenge is now to ensure that new projects can get out of paper and maintain financial feasibility in the long run.

If Terraformation can prove that tree planting can be a good deal, Wong may end with a much larger legacy than any silicone valley starting.

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