STOCKHOLM — A political fight has erupted in Sweden over whether forest owners should be paid to delay harvesting trees as part of the country’s contribution to the EU’s ambitious carbon removal targets. The EU’s Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) regulation requires the bloc to remove 310 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030. With Sweden holding the EU’s largest forest area, the country is expected to play a central role in meeting that target. In 2022, the government commissioned a parliamentary committee to explore how to incentivize carbon storage. Its proposal: legally binding contracts offering landowners 400 SEK (~$42) per ton of CO2 if they delay felling their trees for 5 to 20 years beyond the minimum harvest age. …The plan has triggered fierce opposition. The Swedish Forest Industries Federation warns that 7,200 jobs are at risk, with smaller sawmills particularly vulnerable. …Supporters, however, argue that paying landowners reflects the forest’s true value.

• Related by Lydia Lothman in Bloomberg: Climate Fight Breaks Out in Sweden Over Carbon Payments to Forest Owners