This study was conducted to quantify carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from land use/cover
(LULC) change in the municipality of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Historical LULC maps were obtained
from Random Forest classification of cloud free Landsat TM image of 1990 and OLI image of 2022 in Google
Earth Engine platform. Field measurements were carried out to estimate the aboveground carbon stock of
different LULC types using an allometric equation. The LULC change and the carbon stock data were integrated
to quantify CO2 emission using the IPCC method. The results showed that, between 1990 and 2022, the
municipality of Ouagadougou was characterized by built-up and cropland expansions at the detriment of the
savanna vegetation. Built-up area increased from 5.75% to 52% of the study area and cropland from 14.47% to
24.74%. At the same time, tree savanna and shrub savanna reduced from 58.64% to 11.66% and from 20.44% to
10.96% respectively. The highest mean carbon stock was recorded in tree savanna (36 ± 4.5 tC/ha), followed by
shrub savanna (21.9 ± 6.1 tC/ha) and cropland (18 ±3.3). The change in LULC caused more emission of CO2
(2630490.96 ±0.74% tCO2e) than absorption (207867.93 ± 0.67% tCO2e). The expansion of built-up appeared
as the main source of CO2 emission (83.65% of total emission) from LULC change. CO2 absorption is mainly
driven by the conversions to tree savanna (85.13% of total absorption), particularly the conversion of shrub
savanna to tree savanna (63.07%) that released 131111.20 ± 0.28 tCO2e into the atmosphere. The findings of
this study can be used to address sustainable land use planning in Ouagadougou, since they highlight the issue of
land use planning and call for mainstreaming climate change adaptation into the city’s master plan or land use
policies.

Aboveground carbon stock, CO2 emission, LULC change, Ouagadougou