Fossil fuels – left untouched – store carbon for millennia.
Forests can also store carbon but for much shorter time periods. Climate scientists measure emissions and removals of carbon dioxide from land and forests separately from fossil fuel emissions. This sector is called LULUCF - Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry. In EU climate policy it is one of three sectors which together must reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions to at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.
Fern analyses and explains prohibitively complicated LULUCF discussions so that civil society and politicians can be more involved.