Greenhouse gas emissions and removals in land and forests

The land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in Austria recorded large carbon removals in the late 1990s and early 2000s (with a mean of – 17 103 kt of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂eq) per year from 1990 to 2005). Since then, removals have decreased, mainly due to increased harvest rates driven by natural disturbances and decreasing increment rates in forest land in some years. Severe calamities caused by bark beetle infestations and increment drops caused by droughts made the LULUCF sector a net source of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018, 2019 and 2023. Due to the high annual variations and the sector’s susceptibly to climatic variability and natural disturbances, it is not possible to predict with any confidence whether the LULUCF sector will reach the 2030 EU target. It also needs to be pointed out that the complete 2030 target (including the mean 2016–2018 socket and the 2026–2029 budget) is subject to change based on methodological developments, and thus the current value should be treated as only an indicative estimate.

Regarding the first commitment period from 2021 to 2025, a final total will only be possible in 2027 when reliable data for the complete period become available. So far, preliminary results, which are expected to change substantially, are available for 2021, 2022 and 2023.