Trends in emissions and removals of greenhouse gases and air pollutants from the land, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector have been balanced since 1990. More information on emissions and removals trends from the LULUCF sector in Slovakia.
Trends in greenhouse gas emissions and removals
Carbon capture in soils (forest land, arable land, pastures) and in harvested wood products is currently the only mechanism that compensates for produced greenhouse gas emissions. It represents a major sink of atmospheric carbon — roughly four times more carbon is stored in soils and biomass of forests and agricultural crops than in the atmosphere. This contrasts with other sectors such as transport, industry, energy, waste management, or livestock production, which only generate emissions, and where current carbon-removal options remain mostly experimental.
Over time since 1990, changes have occurred in land-use category areas and in methodological approaches, but the ability of soils and biomass to capture greenhouse gases in agricultural and forest land has remained, and throughout the entire reporting period total removals have exceeded emissions in this sector.
A clear example is the decline in permanent agricultural crops such as vineyards and hop fields (perennial plants). Their area shrank by half by 2007, which is critical because perennial crops store substantially more carbon than annual crops, and ploughing them up releases greenhouse gases. Even more problematic is that such land often doesn’t remain as arable land but is converted into construction sites, causing permanent landscape degradation and turning these areas into emission sources. These changes are irreversible and reduce Slovakia’s future sequestration potential.
Total greenhouse gas emissions
Trends in air pollutant emissions
The LULUCF sector also emits air pollutants such as NOx, CO, NMVOC and SOx, which are released into the air during forest fires and controlled biomass burning. The LULUCF sector is not a significant source of air pollutants in Slovakia.
Total pollutant emissions
Trends in emissions and removals by categories
Trends in greenhouse gas emissions and removals and air pollutant emissions from the LULUCF sector by activity (land category) have been tracked since 1990.
For the national emissions balance, the key components are carbon removals in forests and forest land, cropland used for food and fodder production, and grassland used for grazing and fodder. All these categories show persistent net removals. In other words, they do not generate carbon emissions; they absorb CO₂ instead. Harvested wood products also function as a carbon sink. Other land categories, such as settlements and other land (infrastructure), generate emissions and therefore increase the national balance. Cropland accounts for roughly 17% of total removals, grassland for about 2%, and forest land for the largest share—around 71%. Emissions or potential removals from wetlands and drained soils are not yet reported for Slovakia, although these areas have substantial potential to increase national carbon removals and reduce the overall balance in the future. Negligible N2O emissions also come from the use of special soil mineralization techniques (cropland and grassland). More intensive and sustainable use of harvested wood products can substantially reduce emissions through substitution effects and enhance atmospheric carbon removals. This category reports CO₂ removals (kt) under different scenarios. Removals occur through carbon sequestration in various wood-product groups: approximately 2 years for paper products, 25 years for wood-based panels, and 35 years for sawn wood.