Wood products and growing forests are important as counterweights to climate change. Growing trees bind carbon dioxide, which is released only after a tree decomposes or is burned to generate energy.

Growing forests bind carbon

The ability of forests to bind carbon dioxide is limited, however. Once forests stop growing, they also stop binding carbon dioxide.

Wood structures and furniture storage carbon for the entire duration of their use, which can at best last hundreds of years. The life cycle of paper products is shorter, however. Utilisation of wood and paper products lengthens the duration of the carbon cycle and increases the amount of storaged carbon.

Climate smart industry

The products of the wood products industry annually storage roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide as is emitted by the entire forest industry.

Three quarters of the fuel used by the forest industry is wood-based and the carbon dioxide released in its combustion does not burden the atmosphere. Increasing the use of wood-based products in Europe and globally also increases the amount of carbon storaged into products. In addition, increasing the use of wood can help save non-renewable natural resources.

Only global remedies can help combat climate change 

It is important from the forest industry's point of view that international climate policy is truly global. For example, the Kyoto Protocol only obligates less than half of the global paper industry to cut greenhouse gas emissions.