The European Union does not only want to slash its greenhouse gas emissions but also boost the amount of carbon it removes from the atmosphere in order to prevent drastic global warming – and healthy forests have a big part to play in this.
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In this special report, EURACTIV looks at how the EU’s proposed Nature Restoration Law can help strengthen Europe’s forests and make them more resilient to shocks caused by climate change – including pests, fires and drought.
The protection of forests will be high on the agenda at this year's UN climate summit in Glasgow, where world nations are expected to come forward with more ambitious climate goals. EURACTIV gives you a roundup of the issues at …
In its forest strategy tabled in July, the European Commission has underlined the crucial role played by forests in absorbing carbon dioxide and meeting the EU's climate targets, setting out plans to plant 3 billion trees before the end of the decade.
The capacity of forests to act as a “carbon sink” – absorbing more CO2 than they emit – is decreasing and needs to be reversed, the European Commission said in September last year when it presented its 2030 climate target plan.
With its 2030 climate plan last month, the European Commission has put the spotlight on forests as Europe's main "carbon sink," saying their ability to store carbon dioxide must be preserved in order to reach the bloc's climate goals.
Forests are Europe’s biggest carbon sinks and forestry the sector with the greatest potential to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the quantities needed to meet the bloc’s objectives under the Paris Agreement.
