Carbon balance (CO₂): is the difference between anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHG) from the atmosphere over a given period.

Removals: carbon dioxide removals (CDR). They refer to the process of removing CO₂ from the atmosphere according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).¹ Being the opposite of emissions, practices or technologies that remove CO₂ are often described as achieving "negative emissions". There are two main types of CDR: from improving existing natural processes that remove carbon from the atmosphere (for example, by increasing its absorption by trees, soil or other "carbon sinks"), or from chemical processes to, for example, capture CO₂ directly from ambient air and store it elsewhere.²

Afforestation (planting new trees in areas where there were no forests) and reforestation (replanting trees in areas where there were forests but they have been converted) are also considered forms of CDR because they increase natural CO₂ sinks.³ 

The IPCC warned in its report on climate change mitigation ⁴ that keeping the temperature rise within the 1.5 °C limit will be impossible without carbon dioxide removals. Removals can offset the GHG emissions of sectors that cannot completely decarbonize their activities or that may take a long time to do so.

Carbon stock: according to the IPCC, is the amount of carbon held within a reservoir at a specific time. Oceans, soils and forests are examples of carbon stocks.

The carbon stock in a reservoir or pool can change according to the difference between carbon additions and losses. When losses are greater than additions, the carbon stock becomes smaller and so the reservoir acts as an emission source to the atmosphere; when losses are less than additions, the reservoir acts as a sink.

Balance (removals and emissions), removals and carbon stocks at Suzano

Suzano's carbon balance is calculated from the difference between scope 1, 2 and 3⁹ emissions and the balance between emissions and direct removals from land use (net removals by land use). 

Carbon removals occur when forest biomass grows - for example, when even a single tree is planted in a pasture area or when an already planted area is increased from 500 hectares to 600 hectares. 

Thus, when there is an increase in the volume of biomass in a given Suzano area, its equivalent increase in carbon is considered to be "direct removal by land use change". On the other hand, when there is a reduction in the volume of biomass (such as during harvest periods), the equivalent loss in carbon is considered to be "direct emissions from land use change".

The company's carbon stock is then the balance between all the direct emissions and removals from land use in forest areas that occurred in a given year (or an annual "snapshot" of all the carbon that is stored in its natural reservoirs).

As a company that carries out responsible forest management, Suzano has eucalyptus cultivation areas in which the process of planting, harvesting and conserving the native forest are in the form of a mosaic. In this way, the company maintains a constant carbon stock, with the conservation areas stabilized or growing and removing carbon from the atmosphere, and the eucalyptus cultivation areas, for the most part, with growing seedlings. The CO₂ removal value linked to the environmental restoration process and High Conservation Value Areas (HCVAs) is included in the removal values of native vegetation areas.

Regarding the planted forest areas, as Suzano has a cultivation cycle of approximately seven years, only one-seventh of the planted forest areas are under constant harvest. The other six-sevenths of the planted forest areas are, to varying degrees, storing carbon over time and ensuring that this stock remains in the field.

Calculation methodology

The method currently used to estimate carbon removal in eucalyptus plantations is in line with international methodologies, based on IPCC guidelines. Carbon removals were calculated using the "stock change method", following the IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (volume 4, chapter 4).⁵

To calculate removals, data from the Cadastral Inventory of plantations from 2 years old is used. In this way, carbon removals in 2023 reflect the increase in biomass from plantations that took place until 2021 and the loss of biomass from harvests that took place in 2023. Plantations that took place in 2022 and 2023 will only have their removals accounted for in the Carbon Stock and Removals Inventory from 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Thus, GHG removals by planted forests are calculated using the stock change method by IPCC guidelines. To calculate the carbon stock (which increases as the vegetation grows and decreases when it is harvested), Suzano uses data from its forest registry database, which includes information on areas, in hectares, separated by age and clone, density and volume of biomass for each of these ages. Based on this information, the IPCC-recognized conversion factors (C to CO₂), above- and below-ground biomass proportion factor and biomass expansion factors (BEF) are applied, and carbon stocks are calculated.

For areas earmarked for conservation and restoration, the gain-loss method is used to calculate the volume of carbon removals, a methodology also recommended by the IPCC guidelines. This calculation uses information and data from the company's forest registry combined with carbon stock factors by phytophysiognomy and biome and by successional stage (level of forest maturity).

All these factors come from the most consolidated and recognized bibliographical references in Brazil and from the IPCC itself.

GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance e SBTi FLAG

The GHG Protocol is an initiative of the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) that establishes standards and guidelines for measuring and managing GHG emissions from public and private sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions.

Since 2020, the GHG Protocol has developed the Land Sector and Removals Guidance⁶ to help companies account for and report their GHG emissions and removals about land management, land use change, biogenic products, carbon dioxide removal technologies and related activities in GHG inventories, based on the Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard.

Based on its vast experience in forest inventories and inventories of carbon emissions and removals, Suzano has collaborated in the development of this new Guidance as a member of the Advisory Committee and through technical discussions in the sector and participation in public consultations promoted by the GHG Protocol.

In 2023, the company took part in the pilot test phase of the Guidance and submitted its contributions on the guidelines and calculation methods proposed by the methodology. To do this, it carried out an assessment using its data, involving specialists from various areas of the company. Since then, the Guidance has been under review by the Advisory Committee and the Technical Working Group, and its final version is expected to be published at the end of 2024. Following the publication of the final version of the Guidance, Suzano will evaluate its internal procedures for the inventory of emissions and carbon removals against the new GHG Protocol guidelines and will update them if necessary.

The Guidance is also of great importance to the company because its methodology is used by the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) in its own Forest, Land Use and Agriculture (FLAG)⁷ guide for companies in land-use intensive sectors to set science-based targets that include reducing forest and land-use change emissions (LULUCF) and carbon removals.

In 2023, SBTi announced⁸ that companies in the agricultural and forestry sectors wishing to submit new targets or update already submitted fossil emission reduction targets should also submit a LULUCF emission reduction and removals target following the FLAG Guidance and the pilot version of the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance. Following its commitment made in 2021 with the Business Ambition for 1.5°C and SBTi initiatives, Suzano submitted for validation its emission reduction and CO₂ removal targets aligned with the methodologies and guidelines stipulated by SBTi, attaching to the process a series of documents to support SBTi's analysis and demonstrate points of inconsistency in the calculations in the FLAG tool for the forest products and paper sectors. In December 2023, SBTi announced that this FLAG methodology had been temporarily suspended specifically for the forest products and paper sectors.

Therefore, Suzano will continue in 2024 in the process of reviewing and approving its mitigation commitments with SBTi and will remain available and active for the processes of finalizing the GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Guidance and to participate in reviews and improvements of the FLAG methodology with SBTi.

The tables below provide the following information:

• Carbon balance (removals and emissions);
• Carbon removals;
• Carbon stocks.

Notes:

1. Reference available here;
2. Reference available here;
3. Reference available here;
4. Reference available here;
5. Reference available here;
6. Reference available here;
7. Reference available here;
8. Reference available here. 
9. Scope 3 categories measured: 1. Purchased goods and services; 4. Upstream transportation and distribution; 5. Waste generated in operations; 6. Business travel; 7. Employee commuting; 9. Downstream transportation and distribution.