## 4 Conclusions  
We presented a comprehensive synthesis of the role of bamboo in mitigating climate change as a nature-based solution (NbS), contributing in three major ways as bamboo biomass carbon sinks, bamboo product carbon storage, and bamboo project carbon credits. Bamboo forests, being fast-growing species with high annual regrowth after harvesting, have a considerable capacity for carbon sequestration and storage. However, most of the studies focused on Asia, namely, China (_Phylostachys pubescens_ and Phylostachys _violascens_) and India (_Bambusa vulgaris_), with only 36 species compared with over 1600 species globally. In China, particularly, the carbon sink function from plentiful sympodial bamboo resources, especially those with large diameters, still needs to be researched. Given China's emerging emphasis on sustainable development and its commitment to the Paris Agreement, the potential of bamboo as a carbon sink becomes even more crucial. While our review predominantly encompasses studies from Asian countries with abundant bamboo resources, \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline  & **Number** & **Annual Emission Reductions (tCO\({}_{2}\)e)** \\ \hline Bamboo Projects & 13 & 4,378,958 \\ Forestry Projects & 520 & 1,283,575,126 \\ Bamboo’s Proportion & 2.50\% & 0.34\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 8: The bamboo forest carbon project status at VCS [101]. we recognize the need to expand research to other bamboo-rich regions such as South America and Africa. This would ensure a more comprehensive understanding of the carbon sink function of bamboo forests, considering their unique abiotic factors across different continents. Different abiotic factors along with under-researched biotic interactions and management strategies positively or negatively affect the carbon sequestration capacity of bamboo forests. For optimal bamboo forest management, although with great difficulty, future research should combine all factors influencing carbon sinks and analyze their importance. Current national-scale research is limited to China, and future analysis of other countries' national-scale research on how different factors affect bamboo carbon stock is needed. Harvested bamboo can be made into durable products, which further store carbon for the long term. Most bamboo products exhibit net-negative carbon emissions, thus contributing to long-term carbon sequestration. However, the research scope is limited to the LCA of products rather than how much carbon can be reduced based on the scale of a bamboo forest, as the whole forest can yield bamboo timbers for all types of products. Future research on product carbon pools at the bamboo forest scale is needed for optimal forest management and to enhance the product carbon pool calculation in bamboo carbon projects. This paper also documented bamboo forest potential for trading in the carbon offset market; however, the number is not comparable to other forestry projects, partially owing to the lack of appropriate bamboo methodologies. A notable challenge in REDD projects is the contention around bamboo's inclusion due to its categorization in the _Pocace_ family and its perceived unsustainable harvesting. This paper also highlighted limited critical studies related to the challenges of existing bamboo carbon projects. Future studies should comprehensively analyze the best practices and lessons learned from existing bamboo carbon projects to address the value and limits of bamboo as an NbS to climate change. Moreover, we call for research on the future global potential and challenges of bamboo carbon project development from all possible platforms, such as compliance markets, voluntary markets, cooperatives, and banks, considering bamboo's role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Scholars can refer to this review as a guide for future research, and decision-makers can refer to it so as to better formulate future climate policies. Conceptualization, A.K.S., C.P., G.W., G.Z. and R.K.; methodology, A.K.S., C.P., G.W., G.Z.