How effective are forests in mitigating climate change?

Gerrit van Kooten

Forest Policy and Economics, 2020, vol. 120, issue C

Abstract: Nordhaus' DICE model is used to investigate the economics of planting trees on 900 million ha of lands that can be reforested or afforested, as proposed by a number of researchers. By looking at the most optimistic restoration case, a large terrestrial sink can reduce projected future temperatures by more than 30%, with accompanying smaller marginal damages. It also turns out that optimal levels of industrial emissions increase, thereby reducing the beneficial temperature response of the forestry investment. While the results appear optimistic, the forestry project takes too long to have an impact if climate change is considered to be an urgent problem. Based on the analysis, one can conclude that the forestry tool needs to be implemented immediately or not at all.

Keywords: Reforestation and carbon sequestration; DICE model; Industrial versus land-use emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F64 Q23 Q54 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:forpol:v:120:y:2020:i:c:s1389934120302914

DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2020.102295

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