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Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy

Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

  • Publication | 2022

Forest-based bioeconomy and climate change mitigation

Bioeconomy

Forests and forestry play a key part in the global carbon cycle and are central to efforts to achieve the 2015 Paris Agreement goals and limit global temperature increases by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Forests provide natural carbon sinks and their products can substitute for emissions-intensive materials, thereby reducing emissions. But as well as carbon sequestration and storage, forests are of key importance to biodiversity and provide a wide range of benefits to society - the maintenance and improvement of these functions is a fundamental part of sustainable forest management.  

Quantifying how these multiple forest roles interact is not simple, and there is relatively limited understanding of the issue, especially in the public debate. For example, the carbon balance of forest landscapes is affected by many factors, including changes in the intensity of biomass harvest.  

The report from EFI presents an overview of the carbon dynamics in managed forests where harvest takes place, the climate contribution of harvested wood products, and how forests and the forest-based sector can contribute to climate change mitigation through Climate-Smart Forestry.