Fires, heat threaten the forests of the northern hemisphere

Record fires and rising temperatures are threatening decades of forest growth in the Northern Hemisphere, potentially turning vital carbon sinks into carbon emissions, a new UN report said Wednesday.

The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) report, published ahead of the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, found that forests in Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia are slowing their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

If current trends continue, these forests could reach a tipping point where they start releasing more carbon than they absorb, he warned.

This would undermine efforts to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of reducing emissions to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as these forests currently offset a significant portion of man-made CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and deforestation. Forests in the Northern Hemisphere hold about half of the world’s carbon storage.

“The message is clear: what we have achieved over the past three decades is now at serious risk from the climate emergency,” UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molsean said in a statement.

The report highlights the vulnerability of the Arctic’s boreal forests, which contain almost half of the world’s primary, old-growth forests and store large amounts of carbon. These forests face increasing threats from warming and fires.

The northern hemisphere accounts for more than 42% of the world’s forests and nearly half of its primary forest land, but is increasingly vulnerable to fire, pests and drought, the report said.

Such factors led Europe’s forests to absorb almost a third less CO2 annually in 2020-22 compared to 2010-14, according to a study by the European Union’s Joint Research Centre.

“We cannot afford to lose the most powerful physical defense on the planet,” Molsean said. “The rising tide of fire and drought is pushing our forests past a critical tipping point.” At COP30, Brazil is set to launch the Tropical Forests Forever Fund (TFFF) to provide funding to countries that commit to preserving their forests.