The Forest Products Industry is essential to combating Climate Change

December 6, 2008

The Global Forest Products Industry Is Committed to Helping Combat Climate Change

The forest products industry fights climate change everyday. From carefully managing forests that absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), to manufacturing products that store carbon, create alternatives to more carbon intensive materials, and are made from renewable and recyclable raw materials, to using and producing renewable energy, the forest products industry’s everyday operations support a more sustainable world for future generations.

Sustainable Forestry and Forest Products Reduce Greenhouse Gases

The carbon cycle is a fundamental part of the forest products industry.

• Trees remove greenhouse gases (GHG) from the atmosphere during photosynthesis – absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and releasing oxygen as they grow.
• The carbon stored in trees becomes sequestered in wood and paper products.
• Paper recycling reduces methane emissions by keeping paper out of landfills where it would otherwise decay, and reduces energy required for a number of categories of paper products.
• Wood building materials require less energy to produce, transport, construct, and maintain over time and are better insulators than other building materials such as cement and steel.
• Wood by-products of our industry’s manufacturing processes are used as a renewable fuel source. Half of the energy used by the industry worldwide is derived from this carbon neutral biomass.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the climate benefits of sustainably managed forests, coupled with timber production, can make a significant contribution to reducing atmospheric carbon. The IPCC's 2007 Fourth Assessment Report, Mitigation, states, “In the long term, a sustainable forest management strategy aimed at maintaining or increasing forest carbon stocks, while producing an annual sustained yield of timber, fiber, or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.” Policies to address climate change must recognize the contributions of sustainably managed forests and forest products.

The Forest Products Industry Contributes to Greenhouse Gas Reductions/Removals

The forest products industry has made substantial reductions in GHG emissions to date and is advancing innovative energy solutions that will increase efficiency, reduce reliance on fossil fuel, and expand the use of renewable energy sources.

Additionally, the industry has an important role to play in increasing the level of carbon removed from the atmosphere through the expansion of existing forest area, increasing forest carbon stocks and expanding the pool of wood products that store carbon. Sustainably managed forests, including forest plantations, or planted forests, increase forest productivity and, when established on previously non-forest land, result in increases of both forest and carbon pools. They have the potential to make a significant contribution to climate change mitigation given the increasing percentage of the global fibre supply that is being sourced in a renewable and recyclable way from the relatively small land area. Managed forests provide an immediate, cost-effective means of mitigating climate change at a time when all mitigation options are needed.

The industry also is uniquely positioned to further reduce GHG emissions through its ability to produce “green” energy. Increased utilization of wood wastes as fuel in combined heat and power systems is occurring in many manufacturing locations, which replaces the combustion of fossil fuels. New technologies are being developed that will allow the industry to produce transportation fuels from renewable biomass while making pulp and paper. A number of forest products companies in different parts of the world are currently undertaking both pilot-scale and large-scale projects that seek to optimize the conversion technologies and demonstrate the economic advantages of integrated biorefineries.

A Prosperous and Sustainable Forest Products Industry Is Good for the Environment

Because the forest products industry operates in a highly competitive world economy, manufacturers cannot easily pass on higher energy and production costs to consumers and still provide a high quality, competitively priced product to consumers and end users. Climate Change policies should be designed to mitigate increased energy costs for energy intensive manufacturers to ensure that the industry has the financial resources to adopt innovative energy efficient technologies. Policies must be flexible, cost-effective and ensure a diverse, stable, and affordable energy supply. Agriculture and energy sectors policies, in particular, should take into account the impact on afforestation, deforestation and existing fibre markets, particularly where such policies involve the application of subsidies that drive land use change.

International Climate Policies and Agreements Must Fully Recognize the Role of
Managed Forests and Forest Products

The Bali Action Plan proposes that sustainable forest management be considered in the negotiation for a post-2012 climate arrangement. However, to achieve appropriate recognition of the role of forestry and forest products and to remove potentially unintended land-use outcomes, changes to the existing Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) rules are required in a post-2012 agreement.

LULUCF provisions should recognize that a significant portion of forest carbon is retained in harvested forest products and not released to the atmosphere during harvest. As such, carbon stored in products should be accepted as a creditable carbon pool. In addition, accounting periods should take into account realistic forest growth cycles and should not tie credits to narrow program commitment periods. The appropriate crediting of sustainable forest management and products will create incentives to maintain carbon stock levels for the long term and limit land use change to non forest uses.

The current Kyoto Protocol provisions create land use restrictions for forests established before 1990, and do not promote sustainable management practices. This has had a negative impact on forest investment in some areas. The rules should ensure that planted production forests established pre-1990 do not incur liabilities so long as they are replanted and achieve the same overall level of carbon sequestration as previously. This is currently the case if these forests are re-established in the same location but should also apply if they are relocated. In both cases, the impact on the atmosphere as a result of the temporary removal of trees is the same. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), which account for approximately 20% of global emissions, are appropriately an important option for reducing emissions in developing countries. To be durable, any approach must be based on sustainable development principles and recognize the need for local community participation in the solution, and the protection of carbon property rights.

The Forest Products Industry Must be Part of Global Climate Solutions

The forest products industry believes that world leaders must work toward international climate change arrangements that address major sources of emissions while respecting the free flow of products in the global marketplace and recognize the complementary contribution that forests and wood products can make. Such an agreement needs to include all major emitting countries, both developed and developing, to ensure that competitive balance is maintained and emissions “leakage” is prevented.

The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) is a worldwide network of forest and paper industry associations that promotes cooperation at the international level on important issues, including sustainability and climate change. ICFPA includes forest and paper associations from 43 countries representing more than 90 percent of the world’s paper production and more than 50 percent of its wood production.
For more information, visit: www.icfpa.org

Contact Information

Confederation of European Paper Industries [ICFPA 2008 Secretariat]
Policy: Marco Mensink, m.mensink@cepi.org

AmericanForest & Paper Association
Policy: Rhea Hale, rhea_hale@afandpa.org or Jake Handelsman, jake_handelsman@afandpa.org
Media: Charles Lardner, charles_lardner@afandpa.org