"Meanwhile, estimates on land area suitable for afforestation worldwide also differ by 10 times," he said, adding that more importantly, the significant gap between countries' afforestation commitments and their willingness to implement them has long been overlooked.

Qin said there is a huge mismatch between countries' afforestation commitments and land potential. "Countries with land potential have made relatively few commitments, while those that have made more commitments — especially low-income countries — lack sufficient land and other resources to support their afforestation aspirations, he said.

Qin said his team has proposed an Olympics-style goal for global afforestation in the future that is "faster, higher, stronger, and more united".

"We hope the study will provide some scientific reference for global climate change cooperation, helping to clarify issues such as the asymmetry of forest resources among countries and the imbalance of rights and responsibilities between northern and southern countries," he said.

Qin said his team will fully leverage the advantages of international cooperation to conduct research in the intersection of energy, nature, and carbon neutrality, with a focus on exploring feasible natural climate solutions in the years to come.

The editor of Science said Qin's study has comprehensively considered multiple factors and provides a "more realistic" assessment of climate effects.

With Wang Yijie, a doctoral student from the School of Atmospheric Sciences of the university, as the first author of the paper and Qin as the corresponding author, the study was conducted in collaboration with scientists from multiple countries around the world.

China has long been committed to the restoration of forest resources. According to the Master Plan for Major Projects for the Protection and Restoration of Important National Key Ecosystems (2021-35), China has set the goal of achieving a forest coverage rate of 26 percent by 2035 for the 14th Five Year Plan (2021-25).

The net absorption of carbon dioxide by forests around 2010 was approximately 455 million tons per year, and it is expected to further increase to 532-584 million tons per year between 2020 and 2040, reaching a peak of approximately 664-796 million tons per year between 2041 and 2060.

Contact the writers at zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn