Climate warming: can French forests provide solutions between now and 2050?

Abstract

The carbon balance of the forest is based on three well-known pillars: sequestration in the forest, storage in wood products and substitution of energy or products that emit more carbon. This last pillar is often misunderstood because it is the effect furthest removed from physical measurements and statistical inventories. It is estimated by using generic substitution coefficients that exclude the evolution of stocks in the forest, without specifying the reference scenario, which is not always consistent with the scenarios in which the coefficients are used. Two recent studies on the carbon balance of French forests agree that the carbon debt contracted when harvesting is increased takes at least 35 years to be repaid through substitution, in the best case scenario. The inclusion of the forest compartment in order to arrive at aggregated substitution coefficients for the entire sector therefore generally leads to their being revised downwards, or even reversed, and highlights the sector's mitigation levers. The increase in sequestration in the forestry sector is therefore based on the orientation of wood towards uses where substitution is most effective or on the identification of particular forestry situations where laisser-faire has a negative carbon balance, and not on a massive increase in harvesting.