One of the less widely focused climate topics in the EU is the importance of forests. Forests act as natural carbon sinks and help manage air and soil temperatures, enhancing vegetation and wildlife. As such, forest cover has been, and will continue to be, a crucial asset in the EU’s achieving its climate goals.
Eurostat data from 2023 shows that 39% of the EU is covered with forests. This is notably higher than the global average of 31%. In absolute terms, the EU has 160 million hectares of forest. However, the prevalence of forests varies greatly between the EU Member States, with six of its Member States accounting for two-thirds of the EU’s forest area. For example, in Finland, 66% of the land is covered by forests, and in Slovenia, 61% is covered by forests. Meanwhile, in Ireland, only 11% of the land is covered by forests, and in Denmark, 15% is covered by forests.
Some of the widespread tree species in the EU include Scots pine, Norway spruce, European beech and pedunculate, and sessile oak. As of 2023, EU forests absorbed approximately 270 Megatonnes (Mt) of CO2.
However, numerous threats exist to the EU’s forests and their ability to continue acting as carbon sinks. Over the past 20 years, the extent of tall forests (forests with trees taller than 15 meters) in Europe has declined by 2.25 million hectares. Between 1986 and 2016, over 80% of tree-cover losses in Europe were induced by humans through harvesting for timber. Additionally, over half of the wood produced in the EU is used for biomass energy production, resulting in the destruction of trees and overall tree cover loss.
Forest fires have become increasingly prevalent in the EU and have also caused a large tree cover loss. For example, in 2023, Greece’s extreme summer heat waves caused fires that accounted for 85% of Greece’s tree cover loss that year. In Spain, 26% of tree cover loss was caused by fires in 2023.
Forest sequestration, destruction, and development are only mentioned in one of the EU’s 17 revised NDCs in October 2023. This NDC states: “In the LULUCF [Land Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry] sector, the EU adopted a Union net greenhouse gas removals target of 310 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, as a sum of the reported greenhouse gas net emissions and removals in the sector in 2030. Moreover, the new legislation now includes all emissions and removals reported for all managed land in the Union”. The policy referred to here is the EU’s Biodiversity strategy, in which the EU outlines that it aims to plant 3 billion trees by 2030. If this is achieved, EU forests should be able to absorb 310 Mt of CO2 by 2030.
Despite the EU only briefly mentioning carbon removal through forest development in its NDCs, the EU has introduced various measures to ensure that overall tree cover continues to expand in the bloc. In 2021, the EU adopted a new EU forest strategy for 2030. Some of the specific initiatives mentioned in the EU’s forest strategy include promoting a sustainable forest bioeconomy for long-lived wood products, ensuring sustainable use of wood-based resources for bioenergy, protecting the EU’s last remaining primary and old-growth forests and developing skills and empowering people for a sustainable forest-based bioeconomy. Most funding for the EU’s forests comes from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and, more specifically, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
Some other EU initiatives related to protecting and expanding forests include its European Forest Fire Information System, which monitors forest fires, and its Natura 2000 nature protection network, which is set up under the EU’s environmental policy and protects 37.5 million hectares of forest. The total protected land area in the EU is also set to expand to 30% under the EU’s Biodiversity strategy.
As such, the EU could focus on increasing forest coverage in countries like Ireland and Denmark, where forests are scarce, to more effectively increase the bloc’s total forest coverage and include more defined goals for the LULUCF sector in its NDCs. EU public policy demonstrates that there is a promising focus on protecting and expanding existing forest coverage as a means to reach the EU’s climate goals.
This Post was submitted by Climate Scorecard EU Manager Brittany Demogenes.
Image Courtesy of: https://www.digital4planet.org/jrcs-report-on-primary-and-old-growth-forests-in-europe/
Learn More Resources:
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/forest-strategy_en
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/factsheets/en/sheet/105/the-european-union-and-forests