China announces massive greening plan to achieve carbon goals

China has announced to plant 500 million hectares of forests and grasslands in the next five years, 100 million per year to help achieve its carbon emission reduction goals, according to the country’s forestry authorities.

The head of ecological protection and restoration department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), Zhang Wei, said the task includes planting 54 million mu of trees and 46 million mu of grass each year.

“The afforestation plan is part of China’s efforts to fulfil its commitment to peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, as forests and grasslands are important carbon sinks that absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

According to Zhang, the participation of private capital in the carbon emissions reduction campaign will be encouraged, and the government is ready to help key regions, organizers of major events, enterprises and the public to achieve carbon neutrality with forest and grassland carbon sinks.

China aims to increase its forest coverage rate to 24.1 percent and its grassland vegetation coverage to 57 percent by 2025.

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Zainab/Xinhua