DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18352395
title: The LULUCF Data Hub: translating global land use emissions estimates into the national GHG inventory framework (Version 3.1.1, 2025 NGHGI release)

description: 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 3.1.1 (NGHGI 2025 release):






🔧 **Correction notice (Version 3.1.1)**  

Version 3.1.1 provides a patch-level correction to version 3.1.

The correction affects only the following files made available in this repository:





timeseries_GCB_original_3.1.csv




timeseries_GCB_translated_3.1.csv



These files have been updated to fix a data processing error affecting CO₂ estimates for the classes organic soils and LULUCF. All other files included in version 3.1 are unchanged and are re-released identically in version 3.1.1.

Importantly, the totals per class (i.e. at the global level) were not affected by this error and the original data published in Friedlingstein et al. (in review) are correct; the correction applies only to the derived files distributed in this Zenodo dataset.





Version 3.1 (now corrected to 3.1.1) replaces version 3.0 and complements versions 2.1 (2024 NGHGI release) and 1.0 (2023 NGHGI release) of the datasets in the LULUCF Data Hub.

Version 3.1 of the NGHGI LULUCF database (timeseries_NGHGI_3.1.csv) includes NGHGI data from 41 Annex I countries reported to the UNFCCC in common reporting tables up to October 2025 (CRT 2025). The dataset is complemented by data from version 2.1: for 42 countries data is sourced from CRT 2024 and for 102 countries it is sourced from pre-Paris reporting submissions. 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_3.1.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 3.1, the NGHGI estimates (2000-2023) are compared to results from the following key global initiatives:



Global Carbon Budget (GCB) 2025 data from Friedlingstein et al. (in review), using three 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 2024. These original results are reclassified to match the NGHGI classes (timeseries_GCB_original_3.1.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_3.1.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. Main updates in GCB 2025 (in version 3.1) include the usage of transient carbon densities to estimate land-use fluxes. As one of the GCB 2024 models does not consider transient carbon densities, it is not used in the GCB 2025 estimates.

Global Forest Watch (GFW) 2025 data updated from Gibbs et al. (2025) includes CO₂ fluxes for the classes Forest and Deforestation from 2001 to 2024, 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_3.1.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_3.1.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.

JRC Tier-1 2025 estimates (from Rossi et al., in preparation) are a component of the EDGAR global emission datasets. Preliminary estimates from this dataset are displayed in the LULUCF Data Hub and will be made available here once published.


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 3.1.1 supersedes version 3.1, replaces version 3.0, and complements earlier releases (versions 2.1 and 1.0). Current versions available:



Version 3.1.1 (current): NGHGI 2025 (Version 2.1 complemented by Annex I 2025 GHG reporting, updated October 2025), GCB 2025, GFW 2025, JRC Tier 1 2025. (Patch-level correction to version 3.1 affecting GCB time series files only; all other files unchanged.)

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.


Superseded versions (no longer current):



Version 3.1: NGHGI 2025, GCB 2025, GFW 2025, JRC Tier 1 2025. Superseded by version 3.1.1.

Version 3.0: NGHGI 2025 (Version 2.0 complemented by Annex I 2025 GHG reporting, updated May 2025), GCB 2024, GFW 2024, JRC Tier 1 2025. Superseded by Version 3.1

Version 2.0: NGHGI 2024 (Paris GHG reporting, updated April 2025, complemented by pre-Paris GHG reporting), GCB 2024, GFW 2024. Superseded by Version 2.1 


Citation policy: For the NGHGI files, please cite JRC-NGHGI version 3.1 (Melo et al.,). For the GCB-derived files, please cite Friedlingstein et al. (in review), and for the GFW-derived files, please cite Gibbs et al. (2025). When referring to the database 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, please contact: <joana.brandao-de-melo@ec.europa.eu> or <giacomo.grassi@ec.europa.eu>