Europe’s terrestrial carbon sink, made up of forests, soils and a variety of natural surfaces, has weakened considerably over the last decade.
This finding, from its report “Enhancing Europe’s land carbon sink : status and prospects”, published on Monday 30 June, is detailed by the European Environment Agency (EEA), which argues that the land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector absorbed only 198 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2023, compared with an average of 335 MtCO2e between 1991 and 2013.
This 30% drop means that the sector contributes to absorbing only 6% of the European Union’s gross emissions, and can be explained by the ageing of forests, which absorb less carbon as they grow, but also by an increase in wood felling and by increasingly frequent and violent expressions of the climate crisis, such as fires, droughts and insect invasions.
While the EU is committed to achieving 310 MtCO2e of net absorption by 2030, current projections show a gap of 45 to 60 MtCO2e from this target.
The report also lists a range of solutions, including reforestation, wetland restoration, agroforestry, better management of farmland and forests, and the use of biomass in sustainable products.
The EEA is therefore calling for greater investment, harmonisation of public policies, improved data quality and support for land managers in the transition.
The report: https://aeur.eu/f/hmn (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)