The role of forests for climate change mitigation
Forests play a vital role in regulating carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere. Forests accumulate and store large amounts of carbon in the trees and in the soil as they remove CO2 from the atmosphere and emit greenhouse gases by harvest, decay, or disturbances.
Forests act as a carbon sink, when the uptake, or removal of carbon from the atmosphere, exceeds the amount of carbon released. Forests are considered sources when they emit more than they remove.
TOTAL EMISSIONS IN EU27 IN 2020
TOTAL EMISSIONS IN 2020
TOTAL FOREST CARBON STOCK IN EU27 IN 2020, Gt C
LULUCF and emissions reporting
Countries annually report their emissions and removals in the national GHG inventories, including the LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry) sector.
Total greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, M t CO2-eq
LULUCF greenhouse gas emissions (+) and removals (-) since 1990, M t CO2-eq
Emissions and removals of CO2-eq from forest land, M- t CO2-eq