International scientists’ community calls for climate-smart forest management

Graanul Invest welcomes the public letter that over 550 scientists from all over the world signed to address the deteriorating state of European forests and to call for climate-smart forest management. A letter sent to the European Commission indicated broad scientific support of the forestry and bioenergy sectors, alerting for the need to bolster European forests’ resilience and capacity to produce wood and grow carbon simultaneously.

The scientists stress in their letter that avoiding CO2 emissions from fossil fuels can only be achieved through proper forest management and wood utilization.

European forests are under growing pressure from rising temperatures, which cause more wildfires, pests and diseases that threaten their ability to store carbon dioxide and safeguard biodiversity. Risks rising from changing climate conditions can only be reduced with proper forest management and the use of biomass products to secure a sustainable bioeconomy and renewable energy production.

Forest management focuses on maintaining the health of the forest and primarily generating wood, but an inevitable by-product of harvesting, processing, and manufacturing wood products is the generation of low-quality material which has little or no other use other than energy wood. Scientists bring out that there are sufficient volumes of by-products such as tree tops, residues and recycled wood available to secure renewable energy supply.

The climate benefits of wood products are numerous, as they create long-lasting items while embedding carbon and replacing more energy-intensive materials. On top of this, lower value wood plays important role in renewable energy supply, establishing synergies with other forest-based industries and significantly contributing to climate goals in EU countries.

The scientists´ letter concludes that ecologically driven sustainable forestry, that keeps wood volumes constant and makes use of the increment for products and energy is climate-smart.

Mihkel Jugaste, The Head of Quality and Certification Systems in Graanul Invest comments the letter pointing out that we need decisions based on knowledge and science to act against the climate challenge. “The support within academia actually working with life sciences, forestry and environmental management can barely fit on the 33 pages, showing the importance and urgency of climate-smart forestry.” Jugaste adds that, Graanul Invest continues to drive technology and the industry, forward, believing that residual wood flows are part of the viable solution the world needs more than ever.

The letter can be found here: