How much could UK forestry help meet emissions targets? A 2009 Read Report chapter
A 2009 Read Report chapter estimated how much new planting and forest management could add to UK emissions cuts; the Net Zero Strategy cites it in its technical annex.
What the study did and found
Robert Matthews of Forest Research and Mark Broadmeadow of the Forestry Commission wrote Chapter 8 of the Read Report, “The potential of UK forestry to contribute to Government’s emissions reduction commitments” (Matthews & Broadmeadow, 2009). Using the CARBINE model, they tracked carbon in trees, soils and wood products, and wood substituted for fossil fuels and materials.
The UK forest sink peaked at about 16 MtCO2 a year in 2004 and was projected to fall to 4.6 MtCO2 by 2020 as older plantations matured. Of five scenarios, only enhanced woodland creation, 23,200 hectares a year from 2010, added large abatement: about 15 MtCO2 a year in the 2050s (Matthews & Broadmeadow, 2009).
Changing forest management added far less, and all planting options cost under £100 per tonne of CO2 once displaced electricity-sector carbon was valued (Matthews & Broadmeadow, 2009).
Why it is cited
The referring page is the technical annex to the UK Government’s Net Zero Strategy (2021). Its forestry note says emissions and removals were estimated with CSORT, an off-line version of CARBINE, and a footnote cites Matthews and Broadmeadow (2009) with a link here.
The citation is methodological: the annex’s illustrative planting path, rising to 50,000 hectares a year by 2035, comes from Government pledges (HM Government, 2021).
The chapter’s central mechanism has held up: the current UK inventory attributes the weakening forest sink to conifers planted between 1950 and 1990 reaching harvesting age (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2026).
The specific numbers have not carried over. The inventory now uses CARBINE and counts older woodland, so its figures cannot be set against the 2020 projection (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 2026).
The topic today
Since 2019 the Climate Change Act has required net zero by 2050, so the chapter’s 10% comparison no longer applies. The Climate Change Committee calls for UK planting to more than double to 37,000 hectares a year by 2030 (Climate Change Committee, 2025).
For the current picture, see our explainer How Much Can New Woodland Cut UK Emissions? What the Models Show.