Fig. 3: Restoration opportunity index.

The restoration opportunity index indicates which restoration areas have the most cost-effective long-term (2020–2100) carbon storage potential for all climate change scenarios without additional CO₂ fertilization. It is calculated using the rank sum of carbon and opportunity cost, masked to grid cells with a gain in above- and below-ground carbon over 2030–2100, and stable above- and below-ground carbon storage with no reductions in carbon of more than 10% of the detrended long-term (2030–2100) mean. A score of 1 means that the restoration opportunity index is 1 under all future climate model simulations. This map is for the SSP2-45 CO2₂₀₁₄ experiment; restoration opportunity index maps for the other scenarios are shown in the Supplementary Information. For maps of carbon gain under SSP2-45 CO2₂₀₁₄ and opportunity costs, see Extended Data Figs. 2 and 4, respectively.