The European Union has made a commitment to become climate neutral by 2050. This ambitious goal will require a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across its economy, as well as the removal and storage of unavoidable emissions from the atmosphere. Forests occupy almost 40% of Europe’s land area and remove atmospheric carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. For this reason, the EU is strongly relying on forests to reduce its emissions through carbon sequestration, and also by carbon storage in wood products and avoiding emissions from wood, etc. These strategies are essential for the EU to reach its carbon neutrality target. “Carbon farming” practices aim to enhance the carbon sequestration potential of forests and soils as well as avoiding or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. European multifunctional forest management aims to simultaneously enhance carbon removal and storage, as well as forest resilience and adaptation to climate change. Management practices such as afforestation (planting trees in an area with no recent tree cover), diversifying forest structure and composition, extending rotation periods or reducing harvesting intensity, site fertilisation as well as agroforestry or peatland management, can all contribute to reaching climate targets while maintaining forest multifunctionality and biodiversity. The EU has put in place a framework to implement carbon farming initiatives and is developing a regulatory framework for the accounting and certification of carbon removals from the atmosphere and wood products. This report examines EU forest management practices that can potentially improve carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems. It analyses their potential as carbon farming measures and also points out the challenges for monitoring and implementing mitigation milestones in carbon farming practices. The report also explores the policy and economic framework, and recommends key criteria for the successful implementation of carbon farming instruments.
