Böttcher et al. (2026): Too many losses and too few gains: declining forest-sector Carbon Dioxide Removals in Europe’s GHG accounts
Hannes Böttcher, Anna Repo, Mikko Peltoniemi, Olli-Pekka Tikkasalo, Aleksi Lehtonen, IN: Research Square, https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8852965/v1
European forests are considered crucial to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The effectiveness of forests and harvested wood products in generating carbon dioxide removals (CDR) is currently debated. Greenhouse gas inventories (GHGIs) are the most important means for assessing compliance with climate goals. The authors analysed the GHGI submissions of 22 EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK to the UNFCCC to track the historical development of forest tree biomass and harvested wood product pools.