Governments are failing to report the annual release of more than 80 megatonnes (Mt) per year of greenhouse gases from boreal forests, Environmental Defence Canada, Nature Canada, Nature Québec, and Natural Resources Defense Council conclude, in a report [pdf] released in the week leading up to the COP. That’s a significant increase over Environment and Climate Change Canada’s economy-wide estimate of 730 Mt per year.

The report says Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the federal department that does the carbon accounting for the forestry sector, creates an artificial carbon sink by excluding the impact of major wildfires in primary forest (areas undisturbed by significant human disturbance) and annual clearcutting of 400,000 hectares. The NRCan inventory in 2019 said managed forests were a net annual carbon source of 5 Mt, but a more accurate assessment would be 85 Mt, according to Jennifer Skene, natural climate solutions policy manager with NRDC’s International Program.

Protecting forests is essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate change because trees absorb one-third of human-caused carbon emissions from the atmosphere. Canada’s boreal forests hold some of the world’s last large stretches of primary forest, which plays a crucial role in achieving a sustainable future, the report notes.

Canada’s boreal forest, which holds some of the world’s last large stretches of remaining primary forest, plays a crucial role in achieving a sustainable, livable future. The Canadian boreal is both a biodiversity hotspot and the world’s most carbon-dense terrestrial ecosystem, storing twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical forests,2 making it an essential ally in the fight against climate change. As the steward of this forest, Canada has both a tremendous responsibility and an opportunity to lead on effective, ambitious natural climate solutions that protect the boreal.

Despite the boreal’s global importance, it is facing considerable threats from unsustainable industrial logging. While Canada has made leading commitments to a broad portfolio of natural climate solutions, the logging industry continues to clearcut more than 400,000 hectares of the boreal each year—about five NHL hockey rinks every minute3—much of this in irreplaceable primary forests.4 This conversion of primary forests into second-growth forests, which store less carbon, is transferring large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, driving significant climate impacts.

Download the pdf report here