Scientists from the University of Cambridge and the Czech Academy of Science have proposed a radical process for removing and storing carbon as part of the solutions for addressing the ongoing and escalating climate emergency. The proposal centers on cutting swathes of trees in the Boreal region and sinking them in the Arctic Ocean.
The Arctic Wood Vault Solution to Storing Carbon: A Radical Proposal Involving Harvesting Trees in the Boreal Region and Sinking Them in the Arctic Ocean
A bold new proposal suggests using the freezing and oxygen-free depths of the Arctic seafloor to sink trees from the Boreal region and effectively lock away carbon for thousands of years. Scientists believe this can be a long-term and ongoing solution to reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide and preventing carbon release risks from old trees and forest fires.
Overview
A paper published in NPJ Climate Action on 3 January 2026, with U. Büntgen as the listed first author and J. Esper as the senior researcher, discussed the idea of sinking timber from boreal forests into the deep Arctic Ocean as a carbon capture and storage method. This is based on the existing concept of wood vaulting that involves burying wood in soil.
However, according to Büntgen and team, the Arctic seafloor is a more effective environment for storing wood or timber because of its extremely low temperatures, and near oxygen-depleted or anoxic conditions render fungi and bacteria unable to survive or function. Wood remains stable and intact under these circumstances for multi-millennial timescales.
The scientists referenced another paper published in 2025 in which researchers T. Arosio et al. tested relict wood from oxygen-free environments in the European Alps. They found no decline in cellulose content even after 8000 years. Note that cellulose is the primary structural material of wood and all plant cell walls. It is made of fibrous carbohydrates.
Notable Advantages
• Boreal Region as the Perfect Source: The Boreal region, which stretches across Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia, is the perfect source for the initiative. Its trees, soil, and peat store about 1 trillion metric tons of carbon. The conifer trees there are uneconomical but pose a high wildfire risk.
• Risk Mitigation and Natural Logistics: Cutting down uneconomical trees in the Boreal region lessens wildfire risk and could prevent massive carbon dioxide release from forest fires. The forests in the region are also already connected to large river systems that flow into the Arctic Ocean.
• Specific Warming-Induced Opportunities: The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet. This is accelerating tree growth and increasing available biomass. Less sea ice also makes it easier to navigate and transport timber to the specific deep-sea locations where it should be sunk and locked.
Implications
Büntgen and team underscored that humanity may need to remove over 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide each year throughout the 21st century to meet climate goals and address the ongoing climate emergency. This is challenging. Current and other proposed carbon capture and storage methods are insufficient. The world is also still dependent on fossil fuels.
Nevertheless, by harvesting trees in the Boreal region, which hold a significant amount of carbon dioxide, and sinking them in the Atlantic Ocean, where their carbon content can be stored and even locked for thousands of years, the researchers believe this can help in reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in the long run via prevention and vegetation replenishment.
It is important to note that central to the radical proposal is harvesting existing trees. This appears counterproductive because vegetation helps in capturing carbon dioxide. However, another critical aspect of the proposal is the planting of new monoculture trees. The process generally involves harvesting and sinking old trees to create a massive room for new trees to grow.
The entire initiative is considered active and strategic management and not deforestation. It is true that it would create a short-term carbon debt, but Büntgen et al. have positioned their proposal as a long-term solution to reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and a risk management approach to prevent the release of carbon from rotting old trees or during forest fires.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Arosio, T., Büntgen, U., Saurer, M., Bebchuk, T., Nicolussi, K., Buchwal, A., Vitali, V., and Leuenberger, M. 2025. “No Long‐Term Decay in α‐Cellulose of Living and Relict Trees From the European Alps Over the Past 8,000 Years.” Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology. 40(10). DOI: 1029/2025pa005170
- Büntgen, U., Oppenheimer, C., Trnka, M., Kempf, M., Holman, I., Arosio, T., Bebchuk, T., and Esper, J. 2026. “Arctic Driftwood Proposal for Durable Carbon Removal.” NPJ Climate Action. 5(1). DOI: 1038/s44168-025-00327-1