TY - JOUR AU - Smyth, C. E. AU - Xu, Z. AU - Lemprière, T. C. AU - Kurz, W. A. PY - 2020 DA - 2020/10/01 TI - Climate change mitigation in British Columbia’s forest sector: GHG reductions, costs, and environmental impacts JO - Carbon Balance and Management SP - 21 VL - 15 IS - 1 AB - The potential contributions from forest-based greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation actions need to be quantified to develop pathways towards net negative emissions. Here we present results from a comparative analysis that examined mitigation options for British Columbia’s forest sector. Mitigation scenarios were evaluated using a systems perspective that takes into account the changes in emissions and removals in forest ecosystems, in harvested wood product (HWP) carbon stocks, and in other sectors where wood products substitute for emission-intensive materials and fossil fuels. All mitigation activities were assessed relative to a forward-looking ‘business as usual’ baseline for three implementation levels. In addition to quantifying net GHG emission reductions, we assessed economic, and socio-economic impacts as well as other environmental indicators relating to forest species, age class, deadwood availability and future timber supply. We further considered risks of reversal for land-based scenarios, by assessing impacts of increasing future wildfires on stands that were not harvested. SN - 1750-0680 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13021-020-00155-2 DO - 10.1186/s13021-020-00155-2 ID - Smyth2020 ER -