The LULUCF Data Hub: translating global land use emissions estimates into the national GHG inventory framework (Version 2.1, 2024 NGHGI release)

This repository includes the data displayed in the LULUCF Data Hub, an online platform hosted by the EU Forest Observatory. It compiles various datasets of country-level CO₂ emissions and removals from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF). The LULUCF Data Hub is described by Melo et al. (in review).Version 2.1 (NGHGI 2024 release): Replaces version 2.0 and complements versions 1.0 (2023 NGHGI release) of the datasets in the LULUCF Data Hub.Version 2.1 of the NGHGI LULUCF database (timeseries_NGHGI_2.1.csv) includes data from country reporting to the UNFCCC under the Paris Agreement reporting rules (or “Paris GHG reporting”). Data is extracted from Common Reporting Tables (CRT) related to the first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) for 83 countries (we include data submitted in CRTs until October 2025). These data are complemented by pre-Paris GHG reporting data from V1.0 for the remaining 102 countries with LULUCF data. Of the 198 Parties to the UNFCCC, 12 countries do not report emissions and removals for the LULUCF sector. The csv file identifies the data source used for each country and additional country information (e.g., gap filling years, area of managed forest) is available in the file text_box_iso3_2.1.csv. The NGHGI LULUCF database is compiled and maintained by the European Commission (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) and was first described by Grassi et al. 2022. It includes CO₂ fluxes from LULUCF sourced from the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (NGHGIs) submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), using methodologies established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). CO₂ fluxes reported by countries in IPCC categories and sub-categories are allocated to the classes Forest (excl. organic soils, excl. HWP), Deforestation (conversion of forest land to other land uses), Other non-forest land uses, Organic soils, and Harvested wood products (HWP), with gaps filled without altering the levels and trends of the reported data. In the LULUCF Data Hub version 2.1, the NGHGI estimates (2000-2023, where 2023 data is an extrapolation from 2022) are compared to results from the following key global initiatives: Global Carbon Budget (GCB) 2024 data from Friedlingstein et al. (2025), using four bookkeeping models to estimate CO₂ fluxes for the classes Forest, Deforestation and Other transitions, and external datasets to estimate CO₂ emissions from Organic soils, from 2000 to 2023. These original results are reclassified to match the NGHGI classes (timeseries_GCB_original_2.1.csv). In addition, Forest fluxes from the GCB are adjusted to the NGHGI definition of human-induced CO₂ sink in managed land based on the methodology from Grassi et al. (2023) (timeseries_GCB_translated_2.1.csv). The adjustment increases the forest area and adds fluxes due to the indirect anthropogenic effects (e.g., due to increased atmospheric CO₂) compared to the original/reclassified results. Global Forest Watch (GFW) 2024 data from Gibbs et al. (2025) includes CO₂ fluxes from forests and deforestation from 2001 to 2023, estimated by integrating Earth observation data into a geospatial GHG monitoring framework. Gross fluxes from the model are reclassified to match the NGHGI classes (timeseries_GFW_original_2.1.csv). In addition, forest fluxes from GFW are adjusted to the NGHGI definition of human-induced CO₂ sink in managed land by excluding the area of unmanaged forests (timeseries_GFW_translated_2.1.csv). Thus, in this case, forest area increases compared to the original/reclassified results. Due to current limitations in the disaggregation of the GFW model, emissions from organic soils are included in the Deforestation class. Note there is no update to GCB and GFW data from version 1.0 and 2.0 to version 2.1. All these versions include the 2024 data from these two datasets. Data is available in Mt CO₂ yr⁻¹. Net CO₂ fluxes include emissions by sources and removals by sinks. Non-CO₂ emissions are not included. Countries are identified by their ISO3 code. In addition, the timeseries files also include aggregated estimates for World (WRD) and the European Union (EU27). The LULUCF Data Hub was pre-released during the IPCC Expert Meeting on Reconciling Anthropogenic Land-Use Emissions (IPCC, 2024; Grassi et al., 2025). Version 3.1 replaces version 3.0 and complements versions 2.1 and 1.0. Current versions available: Version 2.1: NGHGI 2024 (Paris GHG reporting, updated October 2025, complemented by pre-Paris GHG reporting from version 1.0), GCB 2024, GFW 2024. Version 1.0: NGHGI 2023 (pre-Paris GHG reporting, updated August 2024), GCB 2024, GFW 2024.-- Version 2.0: NGHGI 2024 (Paris GHG reporting, updated April 2025, complemented by pre-Paris GHG reporting), GCB 2024, GFW 2024. Replaced by Version 2.1 which adds more recent data (CRT 2024) from five countries compared to version 2.0 Citation policy: Users should cite the dataset version they use (this dataset) for the NGHGI file. For the GCB-derived files, please cite Friedlingstein et al. (2025), and for the GFW-derived files, please cite Gibbs et al. (2025). When referring to the dataset as a whole, the Zenodo version DOI or concept DOI should be used. For methodological details and context on the LULUCF Data Hub, please cite the associated data description paper: Melo et al. (in review, Earth System Science Data). For questions regarding this dataset, please email [e-mail] or [e-mail]