COP28 Announcement Pushes for More Timber in Construction and More Sustainable Forestry

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC), applauds the announcement made today at COP28 supporting the need to substantially increase the use of timber in construction as a vital decarbonisation strategy. 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.

Today’s announcement said:

A coalition of 17 countries – Commonwealth of Australia, Canada, Republic of Congo, Republic of Costa Rica, Republic of Fiji, Republic of Finland, Republic of France, Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of Ghana, Japan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Korea, Kingdom of Norway, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Kingdom of Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America - have endorsed the following statement:

Recognizing that wood from sustainably managed forests provides climate solutions within the construction sector, we commit to, by 2030, advancing policies and approaches that support low carbon construction and increase the use of wood from sustainably managed forests in the built environment. Such policies and approaches will result in reduced GHG emissions, and an increase in stored carbon.

Convening Chair of the ISFC Dr. David Brand 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. We also need to replace plastics with fibre based products and bring sustainably produced bio-based materials at scale into textiles and fuels and pharmaceutical production systems. We are pleased that the International Sustainable Forestry Coalition is specifically referenced in the supporting documentation for this announcement.”*

* https://forestclimateleaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Greening-construction-sustainable-wood-FAQ.pdf

The International Sustainable Forestry Coalition launched in September 2023 is an example of how industry leaders in the global forestry sector are committed to the transition to a circular bioeconomy by carefully managing plantations and semi-natural forests to balance conservation and production functions.