Extended Data Fig. 3: Global GHG emissions of all processes accumulated in 1961–2019.

During S2 and S3, biomass energy use effectively helps this industry avoid considerable fossil-fuel emissions (represented by the dashed-bordered light-grey rectangle). In S4, the potential avoided emissions brought by energy recovery of waste paper and captured methane are not counted in the total net GHG emissions. The full names of the carbon sources and stocks in the bottom four panels are as follows: (1) forest carbon emissions during unsustainable pulpwood harvest and carbon dioxide emissions caused by chemical production and fibre collection activities; (2) carbon dioxide emissions caused by chemical wood pulping, mechanical pulping, recycled pulping and non-wood pulping; (3) carbon dioxide emissions caused by packaging paper production, printing and writing paper production, printing, newsprint production, household and sanitary paper production, and other paper production; (4) methane from landfill, methane from pulping wastewater treatment, methane from papermaking wastewater treatment, carbon stocks from landfill, carbon stocks from non-energy recovery, carbon stocks from in-use products, avoided emissions from energy recovery, avoided emissions from captured methane, carbon dioxide emissions during energy recovery, carbon dioxide emissions caused by landfill, carbon dioxide emissions caused by incineration disposal method, carbon dioxide emissions caused by the combustion of captured methane and carbon dioxide emissions caused by the escaped landfill methane oxidized near the surface.