Carbon Balance of China-Made Wood Products Assessed Using a Trade-Linked Approach

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Climate Science
• Forestry

Background:

• Harvested wood products (HWPs) are crucial for climate change mitigation through forestry carbon removal.
• Current carbon accounting schemes for HWPs inadequately address complex international trade and biogenic carbon conversion in global supply chains.
• This gap hinders effective climate policy design and accurate assessment of HWP contributions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a generalizable Trade-Linked Approach for accounting HWP trade, carbon stocks, and emissions.
• To accurately allocate carbon removals and emissions associated with HWPs across international supply chains.
• To inform climate policy and carbon payment schemes for HWP-based mitigation.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel Trade-Linked Approach to quantify carbon flows in global HWP supply chains.
• Conducted a case study on China-made HWPs from 1990-2020.
• Compared results with existing FAOSTAT statistics to highlight discrepancies.

Main Results:

• Trade partners supplied 22% of raw materials and consumed 13% of HWPs for China (1990-2020), double FAOSTAT estimates.
• International trade partners held 13% of total HWP carbon stocks during the study period.
• HWPs consumed overseas created a significant carbon sink (43 MtCO2e yr-1) from 2016-2020.

Conclusions:

• The Trade-Linked Approach provides a more accurate accounting of HWP carbon stocks and emissions.
• International trade significantly influences the climate mitigation potential of HWPs.
• A global HWP carbon payment scheme is needed to incentivize mitigation across supply chains.