EU forests may absorb less carbon
The success of EU forests in absorbing carbon has been due to a variety of factors, most importantly that European forests’ growth rates have been higher than past harvest rates. But any future changes in forest management practices—particularly the increased use of forest-based biomass for energy purposes—could impact on the capacity of EU forests to store carbon.
A potential conflict exists between climate policies targeting carbon storage in forests and the increased use of forest-based biomass for energy purposes. IIASA researchers explored this trade-off at the European scale using concrete policy scenarios until 2030. According to their projections, the net CO2 sink in EU forests is expected to decline under the baseline scenario—falling by 25–40% in 2030 compared to 2010. The drivers of this decline are a projected increase in demand for wood for energy and material use, combined with shifts in the forest structure toward older forests that lower the potential for forest carbon accumulation.
