{"id":38714,"date":"2026-02-10T08:12:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T07:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=38714"},"modified":"2026-02-10T08:23:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T07:23:58","slug":"forests-as-certified-climate-infrastructure-a-new-era-of-european-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2026\/02\/10\/forests-as-certified-climate-infrastructure-a-new-era-of-european-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Forests as certified climate infrastructure: A new era for European management"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Transforming European forestry and agriculture towards <strong>carbon economy<\/strong> represents a complex process in which EU legislative frameworks, innovative technologies such as biochar and new economic models based on <!--more-->on carbon credits. These topics are interconnected by the effort to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and build a country resilient to climate change.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Legislative basis: The CRCF framework as a trust engine<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The cornerstone of this transformation is <strong>Regulation (EU) <a href=\"https:\/\/climate.ec.europa.eu\/news-other-reads\/news\/eu-sets-worlds-first-voluntary-standard-permanent-carbon-removals-2026-02-03_en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">2024\/3012<\/span><\/a> (CRCF)<\/strong>, which introduces a single voluntary framework for carbon removal certification. This scheme is key because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Defines the rules of the game:<\/strong> Distinguishes between <strong>by permanent removal<\/strong> (hundreds of years, e.g. biochar), <strong>carbon agriculture<\/strong> (temporary storage in forests and soil) and <strong>by storing in products<\/strong> (e.g. wooden buildings).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Guarantees quality (QU.ALITY):<\/strong> Each project must demonstrate accurate <strong>quantification<\/strong>, <strong>complementarity<\/strong> (activity beyond the scope of the law), <strong>long-term storage<\/strong> a <strong>sustainability<\/strong> (must not harm biodiversity).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Building a market:<\/strong> Certified units will increase transparency and help companies meet sustainability goals without the risk of greenwashing. It is expected that after 2030 these credits could be integrated into the system <strong>EU ETS<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Technological synergy: Biochar from disaster wood<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Biochar is classified within the CRCF as <strong>permanent carbon removal<\/strong> and represents a unique point of connection between the forestry and agricultural sectors.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Solution for forest disasters:<\/strong> European forests are facing massive attacks from bark beetles and windstorms. The transformation of this <strong>waste wood for biochar<\/strong> through pyrolysis (above 500 \u00b0C) it prevents the release of emissions during decomposition and creates a highly stable material that will last in the soil for centuries.<\/li>\n<li><strong>&quot;Soil sponge&quot; function:<\/strong> Applying biochar to agricultural soil dramatically improves its properties: it increases <strong>water retention by 300 %<\/strong>, reduces <strong>soil erosion by up to 65 %<\/strong> and supports an increase in vegetation cover of more than 260 %.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Circular economy:<\/strong> This model combines the rehabilitation of damaged forests with soil protection from drought, while pyrolysis by-products (syngas, heat) can serve as a renewable energy source.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Economic Transformation: Carbon Credits as New Revenue<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Traditional forestry, focused on timber harvesting, is increasingly vulnerable to climate risks, which can reduce the value of timber in stands by up to <strong>42 %<\/strong>. <strong>Carbon credits<\/strong> offer an economical alternative:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Economic competitiveness:<\/strong> While traditional mining in Slovakia brings an annual yield <strong>150 \u2013 300 \u20ac\/hectare<\/strong>, the sale of carbon credits (at prices of \u20ac30-50\/t CO2) can generate <strong>90 \u2013 300 \u20ac\/ha\/year<\/strong>. With the expected increase in credit prices after the full launch of the CRCF, this model becomes more financially attractive.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Portfolio diversification:<\/strong> Forest owners can monetize environmental benefits such as afforestation (ARR), extension of the felling period or transition to <strong>Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF)<\/strong>, which ensures continuous carbon storage in the soil.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4. Implementation and regional challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Connecting these topics in practice requires advanced <strong>monitoring technologies (MRV)<\/strong>. Modern methods combine field measurements with satellite data and <strong>LiDAR<\/strong>, which allows for precise quantification of biomass and tracking of changes over time.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Regional initiatives:<\/strong> Pilot projects are underway in Central Europe, such as <strong>\u017dd\u00e1nick\u00fd forest<\/strong> in the Czech Republic (10,000 ha) or the Polish program <strong>Forest Carbon Farm<\/strong>, which test methodologies for credit certification in our conditions. In Slovakia, research is underway under the auspices of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Forests of the Slovak Republic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Critical challenges:<\/strong> Risks remain the main obstacles <strong>impermanence<\/strong> (fires, pests), <strong>carbon leakage<\/strong> (relocation of mining elsewhere) and the administrative complexity of certification.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The combination of legislation (CRCF), technology (Biochar) and market mechanisms (Credits) creates a new ecosystem in which forests are no longer seen only as a source of wood, but as <strong>certified climate infrastructure<\/strong>, which provides owners with stable income and the country with the necessary resilience. <em><strong>JRI&amp;CO2AI\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transform\u00e1cia eur\u00f3pskeho lesn\u00edctva a po\u013enohospod\u00e1rstva smerom k uhl\u00edkov\u00e9mu hospod\u00e1rstvu predstavuje komplexn\u00fd proces, v ktorom sa prel\u00ednaj\u00fa legislat\u00edvne r\u00e1mce E\u00da, inovat\u00edvne technol\u00f3gie ako biochar a nov\u00e9 ekonomick\u00e9 modely zalo\u017een\u00e9<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uhlikove-kredity","category-znizovanie_co2_cdr_ccs_ccu_dac"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38714"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38718,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38714\/revisions\/38718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}