I planted a giant sequoia tree and offset the carbon footprint of my entire life

I never thought I would be able to offset the carbon footprint of my whole lifetime, in one day. Until I met Henry Emson.

Henry runs a pioneering project called 'One Life, One Tree', where ordinary people can plant giant sequoias in England and Wales.

Giant sequoias are the oldest trees in the world. They're the fastest growing coniferous species and can live anywhere from 250 to 3,000 years.

They grow very tall and very wide too, with the widest sequoia standing at over 9.5 metres - that’s about two Toyota Priuses side by side.

But crucially, when it comes to nature’s carbon capture, no other tree comes close. Sequoias sequester more carbon than any other species.

That’s why Henry created ‘The Great Reserve’, a series of protected areas around the UK where these majestic giants can flourish. His home country was perfect because the climate allows them to survive the stresses of global climate change.

Before meeting Henry, I had always thought giant sequoias only lived in the humid climes of California, where they dwarf their surroundings.

I was right - giant sequoias are endemic to California. They only grow naturally in groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

But they're now endangered, landing them on the IUCN red list. Due to devastating wildfires in California over the last few years, we’re losing 10 per cent of them every single year.

‘Sequoiadendrons’ (their official name) can be traced all the way back to the Triassic Period, 200 million years ago, when dinosaurs first roamed. But today, only around 75,000 remain.

It’s this sad fact that inspired Henry to branch out from his day job at a B Corp-certified tech company to start ‘One Life, One Tree’. His ultimate aim is to plant 100,000 giant