Wood’s Potential in Mitigating Climate Change

Sustainable forest management is crucial for climate change mitigation and requires ongoing adaptive management to reduce carbon depletion. While wood products extend carbon storage, responsible lifecycle management—including recycling, bioenergy and long-term sequestration in landfilled products—all contribute to maximizing their climate benefits. 

A combined approach of sustainable forest management and responsible product stewardship is needed to leverage wood's potential in mitigating climate change.
 

• Carbon Storage in Trees 

  “Trees absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The absorbed carbon dioxide is converted to sugars through the process of photosynthesis, with the carbon-containing sugars becoming cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, the building blocks used to create new cells and new compounds that collectively make up wood; one-half the dry weight of wood is carbon. 
  The ‘waste’ product of photosynthesis is life-giving oxygen. Net annual growth in the forests of North America substantially exceeds the volume of wood removed annually. In the U.S., for example, forests have had positive net annual growth for more than 75 years (1, 2, 3). There is also a long history of positive net annual growth in Canada’s forests, with the exception of occasional years in which forest fires and insect infestation have combined to slightly reduce net growth (4, 5). 
  As a result, inventories of standing timber have been increasing in the US and Canada for over 50 years (1, 2, 5). Because of the high net growth in forests relative to removals and the associated increases in timber inventories, the volume of carbon stored in U.S. forests is increasing as well. Above-ground biomass carbon is increasing in the form of both living and dead trees, as is the volume of carbon stored in litter, roots, and soils (1, 2, 3, 5). Moreover, subsequent to harvest, much of the carbon within the trees becomes part of long-lived forest products, increasing carbon stocks in the built environment.”

  Carbon Storage Within Wood

  “When wood is used for building materials, there is an extended opportunity for carbon storage. In effect, a new “carbon pool” is created. For example, a carbon pool is created by framing a home with wood where carbon will be stored for as long as that home lasts. An average new single family home contains about 15,800 board feet of lumber and 10,900 square feet of wood panels, a quantity of wood that incorporates about 9.3 tons of carbon (4). The carbon dioxide equivalent is over 34 tons. A massive quantity of carbon is stored within over 72 million such homes in the United States and Canada, a similar number of townhouses and multiple occupant residences, and a growing number of non-residential structures.”

  Reference: Carbon in Wood Products – The Basics (2013), Dovetail Partners, Inc. Page 1. Full Report

   

• “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, fibre or energy from the forest, will generate the largest sustained mitigation benefit.”

  Reference: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - AR4 WGIII Chapter 9: Forestry
   

• “Healthy forests play a crucial role in mitigating climate change by acting as carbon sinks, absorbing billions of metric tonnes of CO2 annually. “

  Reference: Forests can help us limit climate change – here is how | UNDP Climate Promise
   

• “Forest management can generate greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits, either by increasing carbon sequestration (storage) or by avoiding emissions. Activities such as reforestation, fertilization and tree improvement can significantly increase carbon sequestration in forests, while reducing slash pile burning decreases emissions and improves air quality.” 

  “Most healthy forests have a positive carbon balance - they absorb more GHGs from the atmosphere than they emit. However, when a severe natural disturbance occurs (e.g. insects, wildfire, etc.) that causes trees to die, these stands shift from being a carbon sink to a carbon source. Many forested areas across B.C. have been impacted by these types of natural disturbances as well as disturbances related to human activity (e.g. oil and gas activities, road construction, etc). Reforestation projects involve planting trees in areas affected by natural disturbances. Compared with natural forest regeneration, planting accelerates the rate at which these areas return to being a carbon sink”

  Reference: Forest Carbon Initiative - Province of British Columbia
   

• “British Columbia’s FCI is a good example of a substantial program designed to increase carbon storage and reduce emissions by regenerating areas burnt by forest fires, killed by Mountain Pine Beetle or otherwise degraded. “

  Reference: Information archivée dans le Web | Information Archived on the Web
   

• “In general, good forest management achieved through sustainable forest management planning, will achieve optimal carbon storage because it can improve the composition and age class structure of the forest to reduce natural mortality, mountain pine beetle susceptibility, etc and maximize carbon uptake and storage in both the forest and wood products. Healthy, diverse growing forests that are matched to local ecosystems will be actively sequestering carbon and the least likely to be impacted by natural disturbances.”

  Reference: 262362_attachment_1_-_forest_management_strategies_for_offsets_march_2021.pdf, Page 11