Greenhouse gas emissions and removals in land and forests

Forests in Belgium are the largest carbon sinks, with a major impact on the trends in the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector. The area of settlements has increased steadily since 1990. The increase in urbanised areas explains this growth, and the conversion from land to settlements causes emissions from carbon stock in soils. The harvested wood product pool has seen a decrease in net removals, and this has had a significant impact on the overall trend, with the pool being a source of emissions since 2019. This is mainly caused by the subcategory ‘wood panels’, which has experienced a decline in production since the 1990s and is currently causing negative variations in carbon stocks. Cropland has become an increasing net source of emissions since 1990.

These individual developments together caused a substantial overall decrease in net removals from the LULUCF sector (see graph). To counter the current trend, the national energy and climate plan (NECP) identifies measures that need to be put in place, including strengthening the carbon monitoring system, developing a system for monitoring wood production, managing soil carbon storage, reducing the amount of artificial land, clearing land of rubble, ensuring reforestation and adapting forests to climate change.