Land-based carbon neutrality efficiency in the European Union

The European Union (EU) has promised to achieve net-zero emissions via carbon neutrality by 2050. The aim of this research is to evaluate carbon neutrality efficiencies on forest and agricultural lands in the EU. The study finds that carbon neutrality efficiency can be computed by a multiplication of carbon emissions efficiency, carbon sink efficiency, and the target of carbon neutrality. We further divide the EU countries into a green group with continuous carbon emission reduction, a gray group with a continuous carbon emission increase, and a mixed group without a continuous carbon emission reduction or increase. The findings are as follows. (i) Carbon neutrality management is less of a focus than carbon emission management. (ii) There is a trade-off relationship between forest carbon neutrality efficiency and agricultural land efficiency. (iii) Countries in the green group exhibit great heterogeneity in their GDP than those in the gray and mixed groups. (iv) The green group countries exhibit heterogeneous economic structures, and their carbon neutrality performance reflects the overall pattern observed in the EU. The EU aims for carbon neutrality by 2050. This study assesses the efficiency of forest and agricultural lands in achieving this goal, based on emissions efficiency, carbon sink efficiency, and the target. The EU is divided into three groups: green (emission reductions), gray (emission increases), and mixed (no clear trend). Findings show that carbon emission management is prioritized over carbon neutrality management, and there’s a trade-off between forest and agricultural land efficiency. The green group countries have more economic diversity, and their carbon neutrality performance mirrors the EU’s overall progress.