Greenhouse gas emissions and removals in land and forests

Except in 2000, 2015, 2018 and 2023, land use in Switzerland has resulted in more carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂eq) being removed from the atmosphere than being emitted. The time series shows that land use has tended to absorb and store less CO₂ since the 1990s, .

Forest land dominates the greenhouse gas balance and has consistently acted as a carbon sink, except in 2000. The exceptionally high net CO₂eq emissions in 2000 and the small net removals in the following year are the consequences of Storm Lothar , which caused large-scale damage to forest stands and increased losses of biomass due to salvage logging. Similar consequences arose, to a somewhat lesser extent, from Storm Vivian in February 1990. The interplay between natural dynamics (growth, decay and decomposition) and harvesting rates is reflected in the year-to-year variability of net CO₂eq removals and emissions. Reflecting trends for the entire land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector, the net CO₂eq removal by forest land has tended to decrease over the past few decades. It is still unclear how much the series of hot and dry summers in the past 10 years, which caused drastic forest damage in many European countries, affected Swiss forests.