If an extra 4% of the UK’s land were planted with new woodland over the next 40 years, it could be locking up 10% of the nation’s predicted greenhouse gas emissions by the 2050s.

That’s the view of a panel of scientists who last week published the first national assessment of the potential of the UK’s forests to mitigate climate change.

The panel, chaired by Professor Sir David Read, Emeritus Professor of Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield, was tasked by the Forestry Commission to undertake the national study, the first of its type in the world.

Professor Read said: “All our research points to the fact that forestry can make a significant and cost-effective contribution to meeting the UK’s challenging emissions reduction targets.

“By increasing our tree cover we can lock up carbon directly. By using more wood for fuel and construction materials we can make savings by using less gas, oil and coal, and by substituting sustainably produced timber for less climate-friendly materials.”

The report suggests that appropriate planting of 23,000 hectares a year – equivalent to about 30,000 football pitches – over 40 years would involve changing the use of only 4% of the UK’s land. This would mean increasing tree planting by 200% on current levels. It would bring woodland cover in the UK from its current 12% of the land area to 16%, still well below the European average of 37%.

Further information on the Read report is available on the Forestry Commission website.