Finnish forests are no longer carbon negative since 2021 - Canada's forests have emitted more CO2 than they absorb since 1990
Thank you for choosing Automatic Translation. Currently we are offering translations from English into French and German, with more translation languages to be added in the near future. Please be aware that these translations are generated by a third party AI software service. While we have found that the translations are mostly correct, they may not be perfect in every case. To ensure the information you read is correct, please refer to the original article in English. If you find an error in a translation which you would like to bring to our attention, it would help us greatly if you let us know. We can correct any text or section, once we are aware of it. Please do not hesitate to contact our webmaster to let us know of any translation errors.
An article from SVT.se on February 15th, 2025, highlights a significant environmental issue: Finnish forests, once regarded as carbon sinks, are since 2021 emitting more carbon than they absorb. This has already been the case in Canada since 1990.
Researchers say Finland must now drastically reduce logging to meet the country's climate goals.
This change in Finnish forests, which was confirmed by a recent report, has been attributed to increased logging. In Canada, and Nothern US, it is reportedly also due to increased forest fires and pine beetle invasions.
The report, developed by Finnish researchers like Juha Mikola from the Natural Resources Institute of Finland, stresses that reduced logging is essential for Finland to meet its climate goals. While Finland’s forests continue to grow in volume, this is no longer sufficient to counterbalance carbon emissions. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that only 20% of carbon is stored in the trees, with the rest in the soil, making soil management crucial for effective carbon sequestration.
Politically and economically sensitive for individual forest owners
This situation is politically delicate, as the forestry industry plays a central role in Finland's economy, with over 10% of the population being forest owners. Despite the economic importance, Mikola and other scientists warn that unless Finland reduces its deforestation activities, the country will fail to achieve its climate-neutral goal by 2035.
Finland the most forested country in Europe
Finland is the most forested country in Europe, with forests covering more than 75% of its land. The forests are mostly made up of pine, spruce, and birch trees.
My voyage of good cheer around Finland - the world's happiest country
Canada's forests have been carbon positive for more than three decades
CTIF.org has previously covered similar scientific findings in Canada, which is the third largest forested nation in the world. According to Natural Resources Canada, Canadian forests have not been a carbon sink overall for 35 years or more.
Prior to 1990, the best available evidence suggested that Canada's entire managed forest land, including areas impacted by both humans and natural disturbances, was a significant carbon sink, steadily adding carbon to the amount already stored.
However, since 1990, the situation has reversed. Canada's managed forests have become carbon sources, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than they are accumulating.
Also, Canada's major forest fires in 2023 were a major emitter of global CO2 - more than the burning of fossil fuel in most countries. Research reveals that the wildfires which devastated Canada’s boreal forests in 2023 released more carbon emissions than the burning of fossil fuels in almost every country, except for China, the United States, and India.
The study shows that most individual countries (Canada included) did not produce as much CO2 (per country) as the wildfires in 2023 in Canada did as a whole, throughout the fire season of that year.
Only the three largest countries, China, India and the US, did individually put out more CO2 than the Canadian wildfires in 2023.
According to OurWorldInData.org, Russia is home to the largest area of forest – over 800 million hectares.
Brazil, the United States, Canada, China, Australia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo also have large areas of forested land – more than 100 million hectares each.
These countries together make up a significant portion of the Earth's total forested area.
