Ghana - Gross emissions from cocoa deforestation

Years available: 2014-2024

Data last updated: 28 Jul 2025

Gross CO₂-equivalent emissions from cocoa deforestation (15-year allocation period, 4-year lag), estimated from the loss of above- and below-ground biomass (excluding soil carbon). Carbon stocks were converted to CO₂-equivalent by multiplying by 3.67. To calculate above and belowground biomass loss, we overlapped the cocoa area map from Kalischek et al. (2023) (representing cocoa plantations in 2019 to 2021) with the loss of undisturbed Tropical Moist Forests from the EC JRC Tropical Moist Forest dataset (2025), applying a four-year lag between deforestation and first potential harvest to reflect the time from planting to harvest. Note that values for the most recent 2 years may change in the future when new versions of the Tropical Moist Forest dataset are released, updated to reflect whether recent forest change shows temporary degradation or permanent deforestation.