Evaluating Natural Climate Solutions in Long-Term Climate Strategies: Opportunities for Enhanced Mitigation Across the European Union

Giulio Di Lallo (), Chiara De Notaris and Maria Vincenza Chiriacò
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Giulio Di Lallo: Foundation Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), Division on Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Ecosystem Services (IAFES), Via Garbini n. 51, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Chiara De Notaris: Foundation Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), Division on Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Ecosystem Services (IAFES), Via Garbini n. 51, 01100 Viterbo, Italy
Maria Vincenza Chiriacò: Foundation Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC), Division on Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture, Forests and Ecosystem Services (IAFES), Via Garbini n. 51, 01100 Viterbo, Italy

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Effective national strategies must be carefully planned in advance to position the land sector as a pivotal contributor to achieving the 2050 climate neutrality target set by the European Union (EU) under the Paris Agreement. Governments define their pathways to achieve the climate goals through the long-term low emission development strategies (LTSs), which describe policies and measures for a just and socially fair transition to low greenhouse gas. This paper explores the natural climate solutions foreseen by the available twenty-five LTSs in the EU to assess each country’s use and potential of land mitigation. Subsequently, it evaluates if better planning is possible to increase carbon storage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We found that most of the analyzed twenty-five EU countries envisage a wide set of natural climate solutions, demonstrating an understand of importance of land policies and measures to meet their climate targets. Sustainable forest management, agroforestry, and healthy and sustainable diets emerge as solutions mostly reported and with the largest mitigation potential across the EU, albeit with large variability among countries. However, some countries could further harness the potential for mitigation in the land sector. This study highlights how some countries could improve their LTSs, accounting for their specific land mitigation potential.

Keywords: agriculture forestry and other land uses; long-term strategy; natural climate solutions; agroforestry; climate neutrality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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