By Jeff Kapembwa
AS climatic effects continue afflicting the planet, scientists have “come up with a burden of proof–how the young trees can help in removing spots of carbon from forests endowed with such natural exposure.
A report found at key universities including Leicester and Birmingham and presented during the TPPP summit hosted by Brazil last month, warned that Africa’s forests, once vital allies in the fight against climate change, have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source.
The research work which attracted key academicians, Professor Heiko Balzter, Dr. Nezha Acil and University of Leicester colleagues at a zoo botanical garden at the Museu Emilio Goeldi in Belém.
Led by researchers at the National Center for Earth Observation at the Universities of Leicester, reveals that Africa’s forests, which have long absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, are now releasing more carbon than they remove.
The alarming shift, estimated to have happened after 2010, underscores the urgent need for stronger global action to protect forests, a major focus of the COP30 Climate Summit that concluded on 21 November in Belem, Brazil.
Using advanced satellite data and machine learning, the researchers tracked more than a decade of changes in aboveground forest biomass the amount of carbon stored in trees and woody vegetation. While Africa gained carbon between 2007 and 2010, widespread forest loss in tropical rainforests has since tipped the balance.
Between 2010 and 2017, the continent lost approximately 106 billion kilograms of forest biomass per year. That is equivalent to the weight of about 106 million cars.
The losses are concentrated in tropical moist broadleaf forests in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, and parts of West Africa, driven by deforestation and forest degradation. Gains in savanna regions due to shrub growth have not been enough to offset the losses.
Professor Balzter, senior author and Director of the Institute for Environmental Futures at the University of Leicester, appreciates their implications but fears for the future of the fight against carbon sink, and that chances of exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius of global temperature were high, arguing:
“This is a critical wake-up call for global climate policy. If Africa’s forests are no longer absorbing carbon, it means other regions and the world as a whole will need to cut greenhouse gas emissions even more deeply to stay within the 2°C goal of the Paris Agreement and avoid catastrophic climate change.”
“Climate finance for the Tropical Forests Forever Facility must be scaled up quickly to put an end to global deforestation for good.”
The findings come as the COP30 Presidency announced the new Tropical Forests Forever Facility, which aims to mobilize billions of pounds for climate finance. It would pay forested countries to leave their tropical forests untouched.
The results show that without urgent action to stop forest loss, the world risks losing one of its most important natural carbon buffers.
There is an urgent call for stronger forest protection, according to Dr. Nezha Acil, co-author from the National Center for Earth Observation at the University of Leicester’s Institute for Environmental Futures.
“Stronger forest governance, enforcement against illegal logging, and large-scale restoration programs such as AFR100, which aims to restore 100 million hectares of African landscapes by 2030, can make a huge difference in reversing the damage done.”
Dr. Pedro Rodríguez-Veiga, who carried out the bulk of the analysis at NCEO and University of Leicester and now working at Sylvera Ltd., the report says, demands immediate attention to avert a potential crisis, though good for promoting carbon markets.
“This study provides critical risk data for Sylvera and the wider voluntary carbon market (VC).
Young forests regrowing from land where mature woodlands have been cut down have a key role to play in removing billions of tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and combating climate change, a new study reveals.
To avoid severe global warming, large-scale removals of atmospheric carbon are needed. Forest regeneration offers a cost-effective method for carbon removal, but rates vary by location and forest age.
Young secondary forests, particularly those aged between 20 and 40 years, exhibit the highest rates of carbon removal—locking away up to eight times more carbon per hectare than newly regenerating forests.
Carbon removal rates vary significantly across different biomes and ecoregions, with tropical moist forests reaching their peak carbon removal capacity earlier than boreal and Mediterranean forests.
Protecting existing young secondary forests offers immediate and substantial carbon removal benefits—delaying forest regeneration efforts reduces the potential for carbon sequestration.
Their study reveals that if 800 million hectares of restorable forest begin regenerating in 2025, up to 20.3 billion metric tons of carbon could be removed by 2050, but delays sharply reduce this potential.
In Brazil, the summit agreed to raise over US$6 billion to protect forests under the Tropical Forests Forever Facility (TFFF), a major Brazil-led initiative.
The TFFF is an innovative finance mechanism designed to reward tropical forest countries for conservation efforts.
On the TFFF and the future of forests in Brazil, the conference:
• Initial financial commitments exceeding US$5.5 billion, with contributions from Norway, Brazil, and Indonesia.
• The establishment of the TFFF as a blended finance mechanism utilizing sovereign, philanthropic, and private capital to create a permanent fund for conservation.
• The goal is to compensate eligible tropical forest nations based on the area of preserved forest, measured by satellite, provided they meet criteria such as maintaining deforestation rates below the global average.
• A commitment that at least 20% of the funds will directly benefit Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) in recognition of their role in forest management.
• The World Bank’s agreement to serve as the interim host and trustee for the facility.
• A prohibition within the TFFF’s framework against investments in environmentally damaging activities like those related to fossil fuels or deforestation.
• The announcement of a new platform to assist countries in accessing the TFFF and exchanging knowledge.