Recognizing the benefits of above-ground carbon sequestration in the carbon footprint of products derived from woody perennial systems

Calls are increasingly made for the inclusion of carbon sequestration in the product carbon footprint (PCF) of the outputs of managed woody perennial systems. However, due to methodological difficulties and a lack of common methods, the current application is inconsistent and often fails to address important issues, limiting the usefulness of available estimates of the climate mitigation potential of such systems.

Suggestions are made for the future application of methods, and three situations are identified here in which it is meaningful to give credits for biogenic carbon: if management or land use changes increase total carbon stocks; if biogenic carbon replaces fossil fuels; and if biogenic carbon is stored for more than 100 years. Where these conditions are not met, other mechanisms should be used to incentivize increasing carbon stocks. All co-products arising from a plantation across its entire life cycle should be included in PCF calculations, based on a holistic view of the plantation.

The aim is to reduce the inconsistency in current PCF calculations for products from woody plantations and to ensure that their climate mitigation potential is recognized in a meaningful way under the framework of product-related carbon accounting, thereby incentivizing climate-friendly management methods.