Climate change impact on forests
Forests are a steady force for the climate. They regulate ecosystems, protect biodiversity, play an integral part in the carbon cycle, support livelihoods, and supply goods and services that can drive sustainable growth of the local communities.
The interaction between forests and climate is two-way:
- Plants breathe, ie. emit carbon dioxide (СО2). About 25% of global CO2 emissions are emitted by plant organisms, making them the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions after the energy sector. About half of these emissions are due to deforestation and forest degradation.
- On the other hand, plants transform carbon dioxide into oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Approximately one third of the CO2 released from the burning of fossil fuels is absorbed by forests each year. Therefore, halting the degradation of forests and increasing and maintaining them is a key solution in the fight to overcome the effects of climate change.
Other benefits in support of both people and nature are considerable:
- Globally, 1.6 billion people (nearly 25% of the world’s population) rely on forests for their livelihoods, many of these communities are the world’s poorest.
- Forests provide US$ 75-100 illion per year in goods and services such as clean water and healthy soils.
- Forests are home to 80% of the world's terrestrial biodiversity.
Nature – and in particular, trees and forests – can and must be part of the solution to keep the climate within the globally accepted two-degree temperature increase limit.
