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See all EU institutions and bodiesThe indicator shows the total net greenhouse-gas emissions (+) and removals (-) for the land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector.
The overall trend in the LULUCF sector shows a slight (1.9%) decrease in total net emissions from 1990 to 2023, from 8 145 kt of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) in 1990 to 7 985 kt CO2eq in 2023. Most of the emissions originate from drained wetlands, totalling 8 505.6 kt CO2eq, with a smaller contribution from other land use categories. Managed wetlands represent a significant source of emissions, contributing 702.1 kt CO2eq .
Forest land is 1.5% of the LULUCF land cover classes and is the only significant net removals category, amounting to 553.7 kt CO2eq. In 2023, revegetated land accounted for 704.6 kt CO2eq, and, in the same year, sequestration of carbon in wetlands accounted for the third largest sink, 410 kt CO2eq.
GHG emissions from managed land are subject to a high level of uncertainty, but efforts are ongoing to improve the quality and accuracy of data, spatial and temporal, in estimating emissions from land .
The graph shows variability in the net emissions from land use from 1990 to 2023, though with a downward trend (i.e. a reduction of 1.9% from 1990 to 2023).