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Climate change is a complex issue that affects us locally and globally, and its impact will persist for decades or even centuries. Forests are especially vulnerable, putting essential ecosystem services and biodiversity at risk. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation, and extreme weather events like droughts and storms are already noticeably changing vegetation dynamics. On the other hand, forests can contribute to mitigating climate change by storing carbon from the atmosphere.

Main messages

Forests sequester large amounts of carbon, significantly contributing to climate regulation.

Forests are large carbon pools. Deforestation and degradation reduces these pools, and releases carbon into the atmosphere.

Harvested wood products, sustainable use of wood, and cascading use of woody biomass contribute to reducing the negative impact of harvesting on carbon sink.

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Policy options to enhance the contribution of the EU’s forests to climate mitigation: which strategy is best?

What type of forest management is best for the climate? And which strategies are best to fight the climate crisis? The answer to these questions is: it depends. So, what is the way forward to fulfil the EU’s policy targets to support increased carbon sequestration?

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How are droughts impacting Europe's forest biodiversity?

Drought events are becoming longer and more severe in Europe. Alerts over low soil moisture are now being issued also in winter and drought has overtaken wind as the most important disturbance agent on the continent. As a result, the structure and resilience of Europe’s forests are starting to face long-term impacts. In countries like Germany, popular terms such as “Waldsterben 2.0” (forest dieback 2.0) are becoming frequent in the media to describe catastrophic tree mortality levels and secondary results from drought, such as bark beetle outbreaks.

  • The LULUCF regulation sets out the monitoring process for the EU’s carbon footprint, as well as setting a net removal target of 310 million tonnes CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e) by 2030 for the EU’s Land use, Land-use change and forestry sector.

  • The European Green Deal is a package of policy initiatives that seeks to reduce greenhouse gases.

  • The European Climate Law writes into law the goal set out in the European Green Deal for Europe’s economy and society to become climate-neutral by 2050. It also establishes a system to monitor progress and further policy actions will be taken if necessary.

  • The EU strategy on adaptation to climate change sets objectives on how the EU can adapt in a smarter, swifter, and systemic way to the impacts of climate change.

  • The EU forest strategy contributes to achieving the EU’s biodiversity objectives as well as its greenhouse gas emission reduction target. 

  • The amended LULUCF Regulation sets a binding EU‑wide net greenhouse gas removals target of −310 Mt CO₂‑eq yr⁻¹ for 2030 and allocates national contributions. See assessment here.
  • The European Climate Law makes the goal of climate neutrality by 2050 legally binding and requires the Union to achieve net negative emissions thereafter. See assessment here.