Northern forests: climate threats to our biggest carbon sink on land and how to protect it
| 30 Jan 2025 | |
| 16:00 - 17:00 CET | 11.00-12:00 AST | |
| Zoom |
This online event will present new analysis on the climate impacts affecting northern forests, from forest fires and droughts to pests and biodiversity loss, and the actions needed to safeguard and enhance their contribution to mitigating climate change.
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Northern forests – one of the world’s largest land-based carbon sinks – face a growing threat from climate change but have a key role to play in limiting global warming to 1.5°C. This online event will present new analysis on the climate impacts affecting northern forests, from forest fires and droughts to pests and biodiversity loss, and the actions needed to safeguard and enhance their contribution to mitigating climate change.
Expert discussants will react to the findings and discuss their implications for policymakers and the international climate negotiations.
Chair
- Chair: Erich de Castro Dias, Land Use & Climate Policy Officer, Climate Action Network Europe
Presenters
- Dalia Kellou, Lead author, Climate Analytics
- Firza Riany, Lead author, Climate Analytics
Expert discussants
- Wendel Trio, Climate Policy and Science Analyst
- Jennifer Skene, Director, Global Northern Forests Policy, Natural Resources Defense Council
- Dr Hannes Böttcher, Head of Biogenic Resources and Land Use subdivision, Oeko-Institut
Watch a recording of the event
Read the reports
Climate impacts in northern forests
Northern forests hold around 54% of the world’s total terrestrial carbon stock and contribute more than one-third to our global terrestrial carbon sink. This report reviews the impact of human induced climate change on northern temperate and boreal forests.
Read the reports
The role of northern forests in limiting warming to 1.5°C
Northern forests are critical in the race to net zero CO₂ by mid-century. Protecting and restoring these forests, alongside steep and rapid reductions in fossil fuel emissions, is essential both to mitigating emissions and to supporting forest ecosystem services and biodiversity.