Greenhouse gas emissions and removals in land and forests

Since 1990, despite fluctuations, the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector in Croatia has consistently been a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) removal through sinks. As a result of climate extremes and fires, and sanitary logging from the development of windbreaks, there was a decrease in removals by carbon dioxide (CO₂) sinks, which resulted in a 13% reduction in carbon sink capacity in 2023 compared with 1990 (see graph).

In the LULUCF sector, which contributes the most to climate neutrality, the challenge is to increase carbon sinks. In order to achieve the country-specific target value of – 5 527 kt of carbon dioxide equivalent for 2030, it is necessary to implement policies and measures aiming to improve the monitoring, calculation and reporting system in the sector. In order to fulfil this goal, changes in the management of forests, agricultural land and grassland, which will contribute to a larger carbon stock in all carbon pools, are of crucial importance. Furthermore, with inhabited area predicted to increase, increases in the area of forest land and carbon storage in wood products are needed in order to reach this goal.