At COP 28, the UN climate summit in Dubai, it was announced that a declaration had been signed on behalf of the governments of 17 countries, most of which have a major timber industry. The governments are to step up efforts to promote sustainable forestry with a view to building sustainable housing.
The announcement was made at a COP Presidency event under the auspices of the Forests and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP) which is co-chaired by the United States Special Presidential Climate Envoy, John Kerry and the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources for Ghana, Samuel Jinapor. This is a coalition of 17 countries – Australia, Canada, the Congo, Costa Rica, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States – representing around 26% of world timber output..
In the declaration, titled Initiative for Greening Construction with Sustainable Wood, member states pledge to advance progressive policies to support low carbon construction and increase the use of wood from sustainably managed forests in the built environment by 2030. Such policies and approaches will result in reduced GHG emissions, and an increase in stored carbon.
More detailed measures were announced in five fields. These refer to promoting more sustainable forestry, removing barriers to construction that make this more difficult, increasing knowledge about and help for wood construction, financial incentives for potentially risky investments and encouraging a “wood culture” among the general public.
The global wood industry has welcomed this declaration and, as world leaders in the timber-frame business, so do we. The declaration stresses the need to significantly increase the use of wood in construction and considers that this is an essential step in reducing CO2 emissions. Dr David Brand, Chair of the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC), launched in September 2023 by a group of major sustainable forestry companies, said: “The construction sector and the built environment accounts for more than a third of global emissions and it is critical that countries move quickly to lower carbon emissions and increase stored carbon by using far more timber in buildings.”
Sources: Houtblad, fordaq.com
