Trees and forests and why they matter

To address climate change we don’t just need to stop emitting carbon dioxide (CO2), we also need to remove it from the atmosphere.

This is where plants come in. When they photosynthesise, they remove CO2 from the air and store the carbon (C) in their roots, stems, trunks, branches, leaves and needles and release the oxygen (O2) back into the atmosphere. Not only do plants act as “carbon sinks” (the term “carbon sinks” is used to refer to places where carbon is stored outside the atmosphere) therefore, they provide us with oxygen too. Forests soils also act as carbon sinks and may actually store more carbon than the trees themselves.

Forest sinks abate around 25% of the world’s fossil fuel emissions and they do so far more effectively and much more cheaply than any existing human technology.

When trees are felled and burnt however, the carbon they contain is released immediately into the atmosphere. Additional CO2 and other greenhouse gases are also released from the exposed soil. Clearcutting causes particularly large emissions of CO2 and studies in Scandinavia have shown that it can take almost two decades for clearcut forests to stop emitting CO2 and actually start compensating for CO2 losses. 

Which is why experts are increasingly speaking out. In 2021, over 500 scientists from around the world warned that the switch from burning fossil fuels to burning wood was a “false solution” that, per unit of heat or electricity produced, adds up to 3x more CO2 to the atmosphere than burning fossil fuels. A year later, 650+ scientists urged world leaders to stop burning trees to make energy for the sake of the climate, forests and biodiversity. In November 2023, in the journal Nature, 200 scientists argued that the world’s forests have the potential to store up to 338 gigatonnes of carbon but only if they are adequately restored and protected, and that maintaining “diverse forests can absolutely help us with around a third of our climate goals”.

Natural and naturalised forests are under increasing threat and represent a precious commodity. Burning them for fuel is an inefficient way of producing heat and/or energy which harms the climate, biodiversity and human health.