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Evaluation of China’s forest carbon sink service value

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Abstract

A study on the value accounting of forest carbon sink services can promote the rapid development of the carbon sink market and help better understand the impact of forest carbon sinks on climate change and economic development. However, few studies have evaluated the value of China’s current forest carbon sink services. Based on research on carbon peak and carbon neutrality, according to the characteristics of China’s forest ecosystems and forest resource inventory data, the stock volume method was used to measure the amount and value of forest carbon sinks in China in 2009–2013 and 2014–2018. The results showed that: (1) the physical amount of forest carbon aggregates in China increased from 2009 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2018. The carbon storage of natural and plantation forests both showed an upward trend. Among them, the growth rate of the carbon storage of plantation forests was higher than that of natural forests. (2) The state, adjoint, and coupling equations of forest carbon sinks were employed to ascertain the best price for China’s forest carbon sinks in 2020. The results showed that the price of China’s forest carbon sinks was slightly higher than the internationally accepted carbon sink price, reflecting that the changes in the value of China’s forest carbon sinks and international carbon sinks were roughly the same. (3) We obtained an appropriate accounting model for China’s forest carbon sinks. (4) The value of China’s forest carbon sinks increased from 2009 to 2013 and from 2014 to 2018. Although the price of carbon sinks has declined, the overall forest resource stock has increased, especially in plantation forests. The increase in the value of carbon sinks was as high as 24.7%, resulting in an overall increase in the value of forest carbon sinks, which was also in line with the physical amount of forest carbon sinks. The measurement conclusions were consistent. Several key points to note based on these findings are as follows: (1) China’s current forest carbon sink transactions are all project-level certified emission reduction transactions, and diversified non-market means should be constructed to comprehensively promote carbon sink transactions. (2) China’s current carbon sink transactions are mainly clean development mechanism projects, with few transactions between enterprises, and the carbon trading market situation is not optimistic. (3) The key to effective forest carbon sequestration trading is the accurate accounting of forest carbon storage and carbon sequestration value. Thus, it is of great significance to establish a forest carbon sequestration measurement method that is economical, simple, and accurate. (4) The physical amount and value of carbon sequestration of China’s forest resources are rising, and the contribution rate is increasing year by year. However, there is still a gap in per capita forest area and storage compared with those in other countries worldwide. Thus, China must be vigilant in times of peace and further strengthen the protection and construction of forest resources.

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Funding

This research was funded by the Social Science Planning Fund Project of Liaoning Province, grant number L17CGL008, in part by the Scientific Research Funding Project of the Education Department of Liaoning Province, “Research on Construction of Evaluation Index for Sustainable Development of Wetland Resources Ecological Economy in Liaoning Province,” grant number WSNJC202035, in part by the Fund for Postdoctoral Research of Shenyang Agricultural University, grant number 770218007, in part by the introductory Talent Research Start Project of Shenyang Agricultural University, grant number 2016, in part by the Key Research and Development projects of the Hebei Province Study on the browning control method in the thermal processing of flexible pouch chestnut, grant number 20327113D, in part by the Liaoning Social Science Fund Key Project in China, grant number L18AGL002,and in part by the National Fund Cultivation Project, School of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, grant number JGPY20170203.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, 110866, Liaoning, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoliang Shi, Ke Chen, Dan He & Zhe Xu

  2. Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, Beijing, 100176, People’s Republic of China

    Tielong Wang

  3. Accounting Finance & Strategic Investment Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Shuaiyu Lu

Authors
  1. Xiaoliang Shi
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  2. Tielong Wang
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  4. Ke Chen
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  5. Dan He
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  6. Zhe Xu
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Contributions

Conceptualization: S.X.L., C.K., and H.D.; methodology: S.X.L., W.T.L., and C.K.; formal analysis: S.X.L.and X.Z.; data curation: S.X.L., and W.T.L.; writing—original draft preparation: S.X.L., and W.T.L.; writing—review and editing: S.X.L., W.T.L., and L.S.Y.; supervision: C.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tielong Wang.

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Shi, X., Wang, T., Lu, S. et al. Evaluation of China’s forest carbon sink service value. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 44668–44677 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18958-w

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