I WOULD also like to wish Lee Wares all the very best for the future and thank him for all his hard work as a councillor. However, I disagree with Cllr Steve Bell’s assessment (The Argus, April 3) of the impact of Lee’s

project to plant 8,000 trees in Hollingbury.

There’s no doubt it’s an important project which will bring many benefits. However, it cannot in any way be described as a significant contribution to tackling climate change.

We need to reduce carbon emissions by around 90,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year in Brighton and Hove. Eight thousand immature trees are unlikely to remove much more than ten tonnes of carbon dioxide a year,

representing about 0.01 per cent of the amount we need to cut.

That is why we need many more far-reaching policies and actions to cut emissions from homes and transport.

The problem is too many politicians talk up "soft" measures like tree planting to demonstrate how they are tackling

climate change while ignoring the more difficult decisions where urgent (and more significant) action is required.

For example, we need to reduce transport emissions by around 36,000 tonnes carbon dioxide every year. That’s the equivalent of roughly 12,000 people giving up their cars, or 120,000 people reducing their mileage by ten per cent

annually. These are large amounts that cannot be tackled by shifting to electric vehicles alone.

Yet where is the political leadership to help deliver this sort of change?

It’s perfectly possible, but while politicians crow about interventions that have negligible impact while opposing much-needed change, we have little hope of reducing emissions fast enough.

Chris Todd

Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth

Hollingdean Terrace

Brighton