News | 12 Mar 2025
New policy brief: recommendations for European forest decarbonisation and climate resilience
- Rural Pact
- Rural Revitalisation Platform
- Forestry
- Nature and environment
- Climate
- Prosperous rural areas
- Resilient rural areas
The policy brief, produced by the EU-funded OptFor-EU research project, highlights challenges in achieving forest-based carbon removal and puts forward recommendations for harmonising forest management practices with European climate mitigation objectives.
Image by Stephan Müller on Canva
The publication recommends to:
- Reinforce strategic priorities related to the forest-climate link, such as the New EU Forest Strategy;
- Adopt technology-driven solutions – such as Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, remote sensing, and Artificial Intelligence – for better outcomes;
- Explore Climate-Smart Forestry – integrating carbon mitigation with water conservation, biodiversity and other targets;
- Enhance multi-stakeholder collaboration; and
- Strengthen financial sustainability and long-term political commitment.
The OptFor-EU project works jointly with forest managers and other forest stakeholders to provide suitable climate adaptation and mitigation options for science-based optimisation of forest ecosystem services and resilience.