Losing forest carbon stocks could put climate goals out of reach
“Delaying action leads to disproportionately higher costs,” explains Michael Windisch, the study’s lead author and PIK guest scientist. “Right now, our climate strategies bet on forests not only remaining intact, but even expanding,” Windisch says. “However, with escalating #wildfires like in #California, and continued #deforestation in the #Amazon, that’s a gamble. #ClimateChange itself puts forests’ immense carbon stores at risk.”
According to the study, postponing action to reduce #emissions and to protect and monitor #forests could jeopardise #climate targets. “We must act immediately to safeguard the carbon stored in forests,” Windisch emphasises. “Otherwise, compensating for potential forest carbon losses through steeper emissions cuts in key emission sectors like #energy, #industry and #transport will become increasingly expensive and possibly unattainable.”
https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/losing-forest-carbon-stocks-could-put-climate-goals-out-of-reach
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