According to this article Bill Gates seems to reduce solutions to the climate crisis to actions that reduce the CO₂ contents of the atmosphere in the short-term

According to this article Bill Gates seems to reduce solutions to the climate crisis to actions that reduce the CO₂ contents of the atmosphere in the short-term fast enough. Let's say one, two, or three decades from now. Under that assumption planting trees may be complete nonsense. But planting trees has other effects than capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere. It can be an effective measure to counter secondary effects of the growing CO₂ contents of the atmosphere. Forests do protect against soil erosion, i.e. against growing deserts. Forests provide shadow to the soil, i.e. they help keeping water in the ground. Dense forests create their own micro-climate. Thereby they help mitigate the effects of climate change. Projects that plant new forests in Africa can provide hope that not all is lost, compared to just let the deserts grow. So, claiming that planting tree is complete nonsense to combat climate change is complete nonsense to me. But on its own it isn't a panacae either.