Letter to not offset climate inaction with forests

The letter urges EU officials to adopt gross greenhouse gas reduction targets and separate carbon removal targets to ensure that forest restoration does not serve as a 'smoke screen' for climate inaction in the energy, transport, and industrial sectors. It argues that fossil carbon and atmospheric carbon pools are distinct and that forest sinks are too impermanent and uncertain to justify market-based offsets.

• The authors argue that carbon removals from forests should not be used to offset a lack of action in the agriculture, transport, industry, housing, or energy sectors to ensure the Paris Agreement Goals can be met.
• The document asserts that reductions in fossil carbon emissions are not equivalent to the temporary sequestration of carbon in forests and soils due to the different timescales and natural processes involved.
• The letter warns that adopting a "net" target of 55% emission reductions by 2030 would allow industries to delay decarbonization and enable countries to minimize actual emission cuts by increasing carbon-absorbing activities like afforestation.
• The authors highlight that forest sinks remain impermanent and data is uncertain, with forest health likely to be further degraded by rising temperatures caused by the climate crisis.
• The letter calls for the EU to adopt a gross greenhouse gas reduction target, establish a separate target for carbon dioxide removal through land and forests, exclude land carbon removals from carbon markets, and provide direct subsidies for ecosystem restoration.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2021). Letter to not offset climate inaction with forests. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/letter-to-not-offset-climate-inaction-with-forests/

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Letter to not offset climate inaction with forests. 2021. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/letter-to-not-offset-climate-inaction-with-forests/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Letter to not offset climate inaction with forests |date=21 March 2021 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/letter-to-not-offset-climate-inaction-with-forests/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2021letter, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Letter to not offset climate inaction with forests}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/letter-to-not-offset-climate-inaction-with-forests/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }