An economic analysis of the establishment of forest plantations in the United Kingdom to mitigate climatic change

This paper addresses the economic dimensions of climate change mitigation by afforestation in the UK and the necessity of reconciling sustainable development with carbon sequestration forest policy initiatives. Present value costs per tonne of carbon sequestration through the creation of new forests are estimated, and results of a static comparative analysis, aiming to show the influence of key variables on the costs, are presented and discussed. The paper provides empirical evidence of the cost effectiveness of the establishment of forest plantations for climate change mitigation in different locations in the UK, identifying also the importance of placing forestry for carbon sequestration in the general context of rural land use, where significant policy reforms can be anticipated. The evidence from this research suggests that the choice of location for forestry development, and of appropriate species and management regimes to be applied, are important factors in determining economic costs. Afforestation with relatively fast growing tree species (e.g. Sitka spruce) on low grade agricultural land (e.g. currently used for sheep grazing) may be a cost effective option. The general conclusion is that there is a case for forestry in the UK to contribute to climate mitigation, that woodlands expansion is likely competitive with other means of removing carbon from the atmosphere, and that in certain cases and locations, afforestation projects may provide relatively low cost options for carbon sequestration.