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Securing the forest carbon sink for the European Union’s climate ambition

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Aug 1

read-only text here rdcu.be/eyycF

Nature - Actionable research recommendations are outlined to improve the monitoring and modelling of forest resources and their carbon sink, and to better inform forest management decisions and the...

Securing the forest carbon sink for the European Union’s climate ambition

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Aug 1

rdcu.be/eyycF

Nature - Actionable research recommendations are outlined to improve the monitoring and modelling of forest resources and their carbon sink, and to better inform forest management decisions and the...

Securing the forest carbon sink for the European Union’s climate ambition

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Aug 1

rdcu.be/eyycF

Nature - Actionable research recommendations are outlined to improve the monitoring and modelling of forest resources and their carbon sink, and to better inform forest management decisions and the...

Securing the forest carbon sink for the European Union’s climate ambition - Nature

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Aug 1

which is your email?

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Jul 31

Why is the European forest carbon sink declining?
How science can help reversing this trend?

A perspective paper in Nature discusses these questions, highlighting the importance to better monitor forest resources and their resilience.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Actionable research recommendations are outlined to improve the monitoring and modelling of forest resources and their carbon sink, and to better inform forest management decisions and the European Gr...

www.nature.com

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

Full-text view-only HERE: rdcu.be/el87m

Improving land-use emission estimates under the Paris Agreement

Nature Sustainability - Climate science and national emissions reporting communities have historically used different definitions and methods for anthropogenic land-based carbon removals. As the...

Improving land-use emission estimates under the Paris Agreement

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

Full-text view-only: rdcu.be/el87m

Nature Sustainability - Climate science and national emissions reporting communities have historically used different definitions and methods for anthropogenic land-based carbon removals. As the...

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

Thanks to the stellar co-authors, including @glenpeters.bsky.social , @pepcanadell.bsky.social , @gidden.bsky.social and others, and to all participants of the IPCC Expert Meeting.

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

This is relevant for forest-rich nations, where “natural” sinks often play a major role in net-zero pledges.
Policymakers need to grasp these implications and adjust their climate ambition accordingly

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

We also urge the scientific community to generate these inventory-aligned estimates and scenarios, and to explore the implications.

Key takeaways: under inventory definitions, the remaining carbon budget is smaller—and reaching net-zero CO₂ alone is not enough to stop warming.

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

Drawing on prior studies and IPCC Expert Meetings, the IPCC has recently decided that its 7th Assessment Report will present land-use CO₂ estimates and scenarios that align with national inventory definitions.

Our Comment explains why this is a crucial step forward.

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

These differing definitions are like two languages: each valid in its own context, but hard to compare without proper translation.

Reconciling them is key for aligning global models, national inventories, and Earth observation — ultimately building trust in land-use emission estimates.

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

Climate science and national reporting use different definitions for anthropogenic land-use CO₂ fluxes.

This disconnect has led to a 7 billion-tonne annual gap in CO₂ estimates from land use—equivalent to 20% of global fossil CO₂ emissions—causing confusion among scientists and policymakers

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Improving land-use emission estimates under the Paris Agreement - Nature Sustainability

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

📣 New Comment on Improving land-use emission estimates under the Paris Agreement in Nature Sustainability www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Land carbon removals are key on the path to net-zero.
Yet, confusion exists on what “anthropogenic” land-use C fluxes are.

#LULUCF #IPCC #ParisAgreement

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Climate science and national emissions reporting communities have historically used different definitions and methods for anthropogenic land-based carbon removals. As the mitigation agenda accelerates...

www.nature.com

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · May 15

On 6–7 May 2025, a JRC-EEA workshop on Land Use Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) gathered in Ispra (IT) over 50 GHG inventory experts, scientists and policymakers.

We discussed challenges in GHG reporting and the decline of forest carbon sinks in Europe.

Agenda/presentations: lnkd.in/dkJNxSWE

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Feb 21

This is outrageous. Stupidity at work.

It’s a sign of ideological hostility to everything that involves a multilateral dialogue and cooperation.

If you ignore climate change, climate change will not ignore you.

Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · Feb 21

‼️The US-based @ipcc.bsky.social technical support unit (TSU) for Working Group 3 Co-Chairs has been terminated, and the US won’t be attending next week’s IPCC meeting where the AR7 chapter outlines will be approved.

More by @afreedma.bsky.social here:

Scoop: U.S. delegation pulled from key U.N. climate science meeting

The IPCC meeting in China is slated to determine the content in the group's next series of reports.

www.axios.com

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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · Feb 21

‼️The US-based @ipcc.bsky.social technical support unit (TSU) for Working Group 3 Co-Chairs has been terminated, and the US won’t be attending next week’s IPCC meeting where the AR7 chapter outlines will be approved.

More by @afreedma.bsky.social here:

Scoop: U.S. delegation pulled from key U.N. climate science meeting

The IPCC meeting in China is slated to determine the content in the group's next series of reports.

www.axios.com

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Feb 15

And for those wanting a deep dive into the complex issue of different definitions of anthropogenic vs natural carbon fluxes, here is the final report and presentations made at the #IPCC expert meeting on reconciling land use emissions, held last July
www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/mtdoc...

Publications - IPCC-TFI

www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Feb 4

while in Germany ...https://www.thuenen.de/en/themenfelder/klima-und-luft/emissionsinventare-buchhaltung-fuer-den-klimaschutz/treibhausgas-emissionen-lulucf

Radio3 Scienza | S2025 | 2024: l'anno più caldo di sempre | Rai Radio 3 | RaiPlay Sound

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Jan 13

2024: l'anno più caldo di sempre a #Radio3Scienza.

Dopo l'ottima spiegazione di Elisa Palazzi, discuto cosa significhi “net-zero”, e perché stimare gli assorbimenti di CO2 da parte delle foreste è particolarmente complicato.

www.raiplaysound.it/audio/2025/0...

2024: l'anno più caldo di sempre - Radio3 Scienza - Venerdì scorso il servizio Copernicus, il programma coordinato e gestito dalla Commissione europea per il monitoraggio del nostro pianeta, ha certif...

www.raiplaysound.it

Geological Net Zero and the need for disaggregated accounting for carbon sinks - Nature

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Dec 16

Honored to have contributed to the IPCC AR7 scoping meeting last week

Prof. Sonia I Seneviratne @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social · Dec 16

The @ipcc.bsky.social #AR7 scoping meeting successfully took place in Kuala Lumpur last week, with more than 230 experts from 70 countries drafting the outlines of the three Working Group contributions to #IPCC's seventh report assessing policy-relevant science on #climatechange.

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Prof. Sonia I Seneviratne @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social · Dec 16

The @ipcc.bsky.social #AR7 scoping meeting successfully took place in Kuala Lumpur last week, with more than 230 experts from 70 countries drafting the outlines of the three Working Group contributions to #IPCC's seventh report assessing policy-relevant science on #climatechange.

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Dec 3

Clear post.

Useful to remember that national GHG inventories use a definition of anthropogenic sinks which is different from climate models (and from this post).

This has important implications for net-zero goals and warming projections, e.g.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nature - Geological Net Zero and the need for disaggregated accounting for carbon sinks

www.nature.com

https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/mtdocs/2407_EM_Land.html…

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Nov 19

Is land use a source or a sink of CO2 globally? Well, it depends who you ask.

A dialogue has started to reconcile different estimates. Two recent analyses offer complementary views:

-IPCC Expert Meeting www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/mtdoc...

-Allen et al. 2024 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Jan 20

nice 🧵 by Oliver Geden

x.com/Oliver_Geden/s…

Giacomo Grassi @giacgrassi.bsky.social · Jan 20

The first 'State of Carbon Dioxide Removal' is outIt was a pleasure to work with Will Lamb, Thomas Gasser, Matthew Gidden and other great scientists on Chapter 8: The CDR gap
#carbonremoval #negativeemissions

stateofcdr.org