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Net annual change in forest carbon, UK, 1990 to 2050, million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e)

The net annual rate of carbon dioxide accumulation by UK forests is projected to fall from around 17 million tonnes CO2 in total in 2022 to around 10 million tonnes CO2 by 2050, under a central scenario.

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Source: Forest Research

  1. Net annual accumulation of carbon in forests by woody biomass, soils and litter. Adjusted for losses from deforestation and forest wildfires. Excludes changes in UK harvested wood products.
  2. The data published follow the central scenario, which is based on climate change-related and forestry policies and the duration of agreed funding in May 2019 continuing at the same rate into the future. Categories for which there is no direct policy to project, a ten-year average (2008-2017) is used. For afforestation, the central scenario assumes that planting rates are maintained to 2021, after which the rate of new tree planting declines.
  3. These statistics are produced by the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI), sponsored by BEIS. Projections of Emissions and Removals from the LULUCF Sector to 2050/2100 provides further detail of the methodology used to produce these projections.