Projections of wood availability and carbon stocks and flows in the French forestry sector - Study report + Study summary + Appendices by task, May 2024

France has set itself ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Ecological planning and the French Strategy for Energy and Climate (SFEC), embodied in the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC-3) currently under revision, aim to define the guidelines for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Forests and wood are at the heart of these strategies through their contribution to the fight against global warming, via carbon sequestration in forest ecosystems, carbon storage in wood products and the avoidance of GHG emissions through substitution. In this context, the study carried out by IGN and FCBA, with the support of MASA, MTECT and ADEME, aims to provide figures to support public policies on climate change mitigation, as well as on available wood resources. Various scenarios for the joint development of metropolitan France's forestry resources and the integrated carbon balance of the forestry-wood industry are simulated for 2050, and even 2080 for certain results, taking into account a gradient of harvesting levels, the effects of climate change and renewal strategies. These projections, whose hypotheses have been validated by specialized expert groups, mobilize the most up-to-date scientific and technical tools and knowledge, such as the national forest inventory (IFN), the MARGOT resource projection model, and an extensive bibliography for calculating carbon flows in the sector and estimating changes in demand