Academic Studies

The findings from these academic studies support the idea that intact and ancient forests play a crucial role in mitigating climate change and should be left undisturbed.

Oregon State University study Shows Value Found in Old Growth: September 2008

'Green Carbon, the Role of Natural Forests in Carbon Storage', Australian National University, Summer 2008

Burning Forests for Energy is not Carbon Neutral: 'Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error', Princeton University, October 2009

'...if bioenergy use results from burning wood chips from existing forests for electricity, or clearing rain forests to grow palm oil and other crops for biofuels, bioenergy does not reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and instead may increase them. Thus, the accounting rules in these legal measures mistakenly exempt the CO2 emitted by bioenergy regardless of the source, according to the authors.'

Please note: The science around carbon sinks and forests is relatively young and there is still no broad-based consensus in the scientific community as to their role in climate change mitigation. Therefore, Canopy advocates for the precautionary principle - in the absence of a scientific consensus, no action that might cause severe or irreversible harm to the environment, should be taken.