Carbon stocks represent all the carbon present in the forest biomass accumulated over time (as a "picture" of all the carbon that is in the forest area at any given time).
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a stock is the total amount of the substance of interest held within a reservoir at a specific time.
Suzano's carbon stocks
As a company that carries out responsible Forest Stewardship, Suzano has cultivation areas for eucalyptus where the process of planting, harvesting and conservation of the native forest are in a mosaic-like pattern, and thus the company maintains a constant carbon stock, with the conservation areas stabilized or growing and storing carbon, and the eucalyptus cultivation areas, for the most part, with growing seedlings.
Since Suzano has a cultivation cycle of approximately 7 years, only one seventh (1/7) of the planted forest areas are under constant harvesting. The other six sevenths (6/7) of the planted forest areas are under different intensities, storing carbon over time, ensuring the permanence of this stock in the field.
To calculate the carbon stock (which increases as vegetation grows and reduces when there is harvesting), Suzano uses data from its forestry registration base, which includes information on areas, in hectares, separated by age and clone, density and biomass volume for each one of these ages. On the basis of this information, the factors recognized by the IPCC for conversion (C for CO₂), the proportion factor of biomass above and below ground and biomass expansion factors (BEF) are applied, and thus the carbon stocks are calculated.
Carbon removals
| Carbon stocks, in tons of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e) | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Iniciativas de voluntariado | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tCO₂e | tCO₂e | tCO₂e | hours | hours | hours | ||
|
Suzano S.A. – planted forests |
114,606,195.82 |
164,799,325.93 |
170,785,672.50 |
Horas de voluntariado doadas |
14,945.00 |
3,345.00 |
7,347.00 |
|
Suzano S.A. – native vegetation |
163,381,236.44 |
150,992,295.12 |
165,973,008.90 |
Horas de voluntariado durante o horário de trabalho |
5,930.00 |
886.00 |
3,506.00 |
|
Suzano S.A. - overall |
277,987,432.26 |
315,791,621.05 |
336,758,681.41 |
Horas dedicadas a capacitação dos voluntários¹ |
n/d |
664.00 |
1,064.00 |
Additional information
It is evident that Suzano has been increasing carbon stocks in its operations. In 2021, we had, for the third consecutive year, an increase in the carbon stock in our forests. The increase in biomass and carbon volume per hectare were the main factors for this growth in 2021, as well as the increase in conservation areas and the volume of biomass in these areas. In addition, to carry out our inventory of carbon stocks and removals, we included eucalyptus plantations that were 2 years old (inserted in Suzano's cadastral base). Moreover, as part of the improvement process, we have made an update in the classes of vegetation (successional stage) of conservation areas in the forestry registry.
We emphasize that the inventory of carbon stocks and removals by our forests was verified by a third party.