Achieving climate neutrality has become a global goal through which governments and companies around the world are seeking to reduce humanity's negative impact on the environment. Cutting carbon emissions is often invoked as one of the first steps towards that goal. But it is important to remember that carbon also needs to be captured and stored, and the forest is an often undervalued ecosystem through which this can be achieved.

Climate change must be studied over the long term

Educating the public about climate change and its effects has always been a challenge, because in the short term these changes are hard to feel. At the forest research institute we study natural processes over the long term, and we can see the impact of climate change. It is easier to spot in organisms with a shorter life cycle. For example, the response of certain dendrophagous insects (known as pests) to longer, warmer summers is to produce several generations a year, which has a significant effect on forest stands. We are likewise seeing more of other dendrophagous species that were previously rarely recorded, along with the consequence of their presence – the death of trees. Another easily visible harbinger of climate change is storm damage, which has become more frequent. The response of the trees themselves is harder to notice, yet it can be detected by analysing their growth over a longer period. Changes can also be seen in other ecosystems, for instance in the sea and other bodies of water. There, because of nitrogen inputs and rising temperatures, cyanobacteria have become a problem that is also drawing attention in the media.

The scope for carbon capture and storage in Latvia is considerable

The additional carbon stocks so badly needed to mitigate climate change can be secured in several ways – in growing trees (in forests and in new afforested areas) and in wood products. It should be borne in mind that the carbon stock in growing trees is affected by climate change – by the storms already mentioned, which are the most significant natural disturbance across all of Northern Europe, by fires, and by pests. Of these, the damage we see and hear about most is that caused by bark beetles, yet they are by no means the only ones. We should also remember the factors that limit the build-up of carbon stocks, namely the size of the area in which accumulation can take place, soil properties and the moisture regime.

As for carbon stocks in wood products, the decisive factor is their life cycle. The longer the carbon remains locked in, say, a board, rather than being split into firewood and burnt, the longer it stays out of the atmosphere. Anything we can do with wood to replace fossil-based materials helps to mitigate climate change. It prevents the additional release into the atmosphere of carbon that is currently held deep underground in the form of oil or in some other form.

Another potential not yet fully recognised in Latvia is the afforestation of land. At present, afforestation activity in the country depends directly on economic conditions – as long as it is more advantageous for a landowner to keep, say, a meadow or low-yielding agricultural land on their property, no afforestation will take place. It is a business decision, shaped to a large extent by political decisions such as subsidies. Even so, a market is gradually emerging that could change those business decisions. Specifically, the purchase of carbon credits is gaining ground, bringing together landowners and companies that are willing to pay for carbon capture in forests in order to reduce the environmental impact of their operations. Scientific insight matters greatly in this work, in accurately forecasting tree growth in afforested areas and in anticipating and mitigating risks in good time. The activity of market participants also matters, in performing the role of "matchmaker" and delivering a benefit to the landowner, as the climate technology company "Arbonics", for example, does in Latvia.

On the whole, it has to be concluded that the biggest challenges in mitigating climate change are the rapid pace of change and the considerable inertia involved. It is therefore important to take as many different countermeasures as possible in a short time, including ensuring the establishment of new, vigorous, adaptable and resilient forest stands.