Planting trees to combat global warming

Climate change has been a pressing issue since the late 20th century when the world recognized the gravity of the situation (Fig. 1). The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was introduced in the early '90s, followed by the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and later the Paris Agreement in 2015. The Paris Agreement aimed to limit the global temperature increase to 2 °C by the end of the century while pursuing efforts to cap it at 1.5 °C. Despite global efforts to combat climate change, evidence suggests that current and future emission reduction commitments are insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement targets (Fawzy et al. 2020). While tree planting is a popular solution, it is crucial to enhance and secure the permanence of the carbon stored in trees and soils. Indeed, if not managed effectively, tree planting could have a negative impact on global warming. In this editorial, we will explore how to effectively use tree planting to enhance carbon permanence and mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change.