Forestry

Key messages

Forests are complex ecosystems that are increasingly affected by climate change. Rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns and atmospheric CO2 concentrations, together with more frequent and severe droughts, storms and wildfires, are changing conditions in which forests grow. Changes in temperatures and seasons can also disrupt the life cycles of native forest species and favour the spread of invasive pests and diseases. According to Europe’s environment 2025, these pressures are expected to intensify, with fire-prone areas expanding, fire seasons becoming longer and forest pests and diseases increasing as the climate warms.
Healthy and resilient forests are essential for nature, climate, the economy, and society. Forests provide habitats for biodiversity, support jobs and livelihoods, regulate water, provide food, medicines and materials. They also help mitigate climate change by removing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it. Climate change threatens these functions by increasing tree mortality, reducing forest growth and increasing damage from droughts, storms, fires and pest. At the same time, many of Europe’s ecosystems are already in poor condition, making them more vulnerable to additional climate pressures. Protecting and restoring forest ecosystems can therefore support both climate change change adaptation and mitigation.
The EU has established a comprehensive policy framework to support healthy and climate-resilient forests and safeguard the ecosystem services they provide. This includes the EU Adaptation Strategy, the Bioeconomy Strategy, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the new EU Forest Strategy for 2030, and the Soil Strategy for 2030. In addition, relevant legislation includes the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation, the Nature Restoration Regulation, the proposed EU Forest Monitoring Law, and the EU Regulation on forest reproductive material.

Why climate change adaptation matters for the Forestry sector

Around 40% of the EU’s land area is covered by forests. Forests are also particularly important for European biodiversity. They host many of Europe’s terrestrial animal, plant and fungal species, while providing essential ecosystem services to society and the economy.

Climate change is occurring faster than many forest ecosystems can adapt naturally. The frequency and severity of climate and weather extremes are increasing, causing unprecedented events, such as wildfires in the Arctic Circle, severe droughts in the Mediterranean region and in Central Europe,  unprecedented bark beetle outbreaks in Central and Eastern Europe, with devastating effects for European forests. Land-use change, forest fragmentation, and management practices can further influence the vulnerability and resilience of forests to these changing conditions. An EEA briefing suggests that the tree canopy mortality rate in Europe has doubled since the late 20th century, affecting the equivalent of 1% of the EU-27 forest area each year. This also led to a significant decline in Europe’s forest sink. In addition, Europe’s environment 2025 finds that the EU land carbon sink has declined significantly over the past decade, largely due to the weakening forest sink. Between 2014 and 2013, average carbon removals from the land sector were around 30% lower than in the previous decade. This decline reflects a combination of factors affecting forests. Those factors include increased harvesting, ageing forests, natural disturbances and mortality, and reduced growth linked to climate change.

According to the first European Climate Risk Assessment, increasing wildfire frequency and intensity pose an urgent risk to biodiversity and carbon sinks, particularly in southern Europe. More frequent and severe hot and dry conditions can also increase the risk of insect pest outbreaks. Given the many ecosystem services forests provide, large-scale forest dieback could have cascading impacts on ecosystems, the economy and society.