Region Archives: International

Special Feature

Summary Wrap-UP: International Pulp Week 2025

Kelly McCloskey, Editor
The Tree Frog Forestry News
June 11, 2025
Category: Special Feature
Region: Canada, United States, International

The Tree Frog News featured the panels and speakers from last week’s International Pulp Week. In today’s Tree Frog News are links to all of the conference sessions in chronological order. 

Day One – June 1, 2025

  • Registration and Wecome Cocktail

Day Two – June 2, 2025

Day Two – June 3, 2025

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Business & Politics

Forest fires Are Spreading—and So Must Global Solutions

By Neeta Hooda, Leela Raina, and Sameh Wahba
World Bank Group
June 16, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

From Canada to Kazakhstan, Algeria to Australia, and Türkiye to Thailand, forest fires are raging with unprecedented intensity leaving a devastating impact on people, economies and natural capital. No longer confined to seasonal or regional patterns, the average fire is now becoming an extreme event, posing a year-round global threat and shaping a new normal. The economic burden is staggering. Globally, economic losses from wildfires between 2010 and 2020 reached approximately $82 billion, a fourfold increase from the previous decade. Insurance payouts for forest fire damages now top $10–15 billion annually, overwhelming public and private insurers alike. This makes the economic case for cooperation and prevention even more urgent. Despite vast investments in suppression, the evidence is clear: we cannot simply keep investing in more fire equipment. This is not just a fight against fire—it’s a fight for economic stability, public health, and a livable future.

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Todd McClay unveils two-way forestry trade missions with India

Radio New Zealand
June 17, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

NEW ZEALAND — Forestry Minister Todd McClay has unveiled two-way forestry trade missions with India this year. The inbound visit – supported by industry partners – is expected to showcase New Zealand’s forestry systems and sustainable management practices. “The outbound mission will continue to open doors for deeper commercial and government partnerships,” McClay said. …McClay was speaking at the Fieldays Forestry Hub on Friday. Trade between New Zealand and India was valued at $3.14 billion in 2024. New Zealand’s exports to India last year included forestry products valued at $126 million. New Zealand’s wood exports to India have surged from $9.5 million in 2023 to an estimated $76.5 million this year. Pulp exports have more than doubled, from $20 million to $45.6 million. “India is one of the fastest-growing markets for our forestry exports – and we’re focused on turning that growth into long-term opportunity for New Zealand exporters,” McClay said.

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The Chair of the Board of Directors of Metsä Board Corporation changes

Metsä Board Corporation
June 12, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

FINLAND — The Chair of the Board of Directors of Metsä Board Corporation Ilkka Hämälä announced that he will resign from his position on the Board of Directors as of 1 July 2025. Hämälä became the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Company as well as the President and CEO of Metsä Group in 2018. …The Board of Directors of Metsä Board has today elected from among themselves Jussi Vanhanen, who will become the President and CEO of Metsä Group on 1 July 2025, to become the new Chair of the Board of Directors as of 1 July 2025. Vanhanen has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Company since March 2025, a member of the Board of Directors of Metsäliitto Cooperative from 2022 to 2025, and CEO of Metsäliitto Cooperative since 1 May 2025.

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Finance & Economics

Vietnam, US promote sustainable timber trade, legal supply chains

Vietnam+
June 24, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

HANOI, Vietnam – Speaking at a workshop on Vietnam-US timber and wooden product trade… Secretary General of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST) Ngo Sy Hoai said that in 2024, Vietnam exported wood and wood products worth 9 billion USD to the US, up 24% year-on-year. The US accounts for 55% of the country’s total wood exports. …Meanwhile, Vietnam imported 316.36 million USD worth of timber from the US in 2024, up 32.9% year-on-year, accounting for 11.2% of Vietnam’s total wood imports. …Vietnam has banned natural forest logging since 2014, focusing instead on sustainable plantation forestry… on 3 million hectares of planted forests, mainly acacia and eucalyptus and 1 million hectares of rubber plantations. 700,000 ha of commercial forests in Vietnam have been certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement ofForest Certification (PEFC) standards. Vietnam aims to reach 70% certified plantation coverage by 2030. Vietnam is also preparing to comply with the EU’s Deforestation Regulation.

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European sawn timber industry transformed by €400M buying spree

By Sanjoy Narayan
RISI Fastmarkets
June 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

The European sawn timber markets are experiencing unprecedented mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity spanning 2024-2025 while industry leaders race to secure scale and strategic positioning. The consolidation wave spans from Stora Enso’s €137 million acquisition of Finland’s Junnikkala, to Austrian HS Timber Group’s aggressive Baltic expansion through dual Latvian acquisitions. …Distressed asset opportunities have also emerged. …This flurry of deals, concentrated within an 18-month period, represents the industry’s response to margin pressures, supply chain uncertainties, and the need for operational scale in increasingly challenging market conditions. …The current consolidation wave, builds upon a decade-long trend of M&A activity that has steadily reshaped European timber markets. …For traders, the vertical integration trend suggests tighter control over upstream supply chains, potentially reducing spot market availability of both logs and finished products. …The timing proves strategic given that North American mill closures have continued to reshape supply dynamics in global markets. 

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New Homes England 2024 to 2025 housebuilding statistics published

The Government of UK
June 26, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

UK — Housing programmes delivered by Homes England resulted in 38,308 new houses starting on site and 36,872 new homes completed between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. This represents an increase in both starts (by 5%) and completions (by 12%) compared to the same period the previous year. 30,087 of new starts on site were for affordable houses — a 0.6% increase on the previous year, and representing 79% of all starts. …Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive of Homes England, said: ”The statistics demonstrate the importance of programmes like the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) to enable the delivery of these much-needed homes — and comes hot on the heels of the government committing a further £39 billion in funding to affordable homes over a 10 year period, giving confidence and certainty to the sector.”

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Over 96% of waste wood processed in 2024, says UK Wood Recyclers’ Association

By Barbora Vaclavova
Let’s Recycle
June 26, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

UK waste wood market processed over 96% of material, annual statistics published this month by the Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA) showed. The association said that there was “strong demand” for material in 2024. According to the statistics, 4.5 million tonnes of waste wood arose in the UK last year. Of this, 4.33 million tonnes (96%) were sent for reuse, recycling or recovery, the figures showed. The organisation compiled the 2024 figures through its annual survey of members who handle approximately 90% of the market, combining the findings with latest industry data. The figures are somewhat similar to 2023 which saw 97% of the material processed.

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Sweden turning oat husks, agri‑waste into cellulose fibre

Apparel Resources
June 18, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

As per a study documented in RSC Sustainability (Royal Society Of Chemistry), researchers have explored a new approach to using cellulose fibre manufacturing. The study highlighted the use of waste products from agriculture, which Sweden has in abundance. Taking a leap from commonly researched wood-based cellulose, the researchers instead focussed on products including oat husks, potato pulp, wheat straw, and sugar beet pulp to create dissolving pulp for clothes – a key ingredient in making textiles. In this regard, Diana Bernin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and senior researcher in the study, mentioned this study, which is centered on generating textile from waste products, as a significant step in creating a circular economy. She also added that these waste products are more beneficial than using cotton.

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Materials rethink underpins architecture’s sustainability push

By Edwin Heathcote
The Financial Times
June 19, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The ultimate problem for architects is that the most sustainable building is always the one that is already there. There is a huge amount written about green buildings, much of it nonsense. There is some confusion about buildings layered in vines and living walls, and buildings that actually are green. Contemporary architecture’s issue is mostly embodied in one material: concrete. …The rate at which we are still using it is astonishing: half of all the stuff manufactured by weight is concrete. From 2011 to 2013, China used more concrete than the US had in the whole of the 20th century. …There are signs, however, that architects are beginning to shake things up. The first credible alternative is, perhaps a little ironically, that oldest of building materials, timber. [A Financial Times subscription may be required to read the full story]

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Turning Forestry Waste into Biopharmaceuticals

By Mike May
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
June 18, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Although a casual observer just sees the bark on a tree, a lumber expert might envision the potential for boards inside, thinking of the bark largely as waste. In many cases, bark does turn into waste in the logging industry. That’s lots of waste, because bark can account for up to 15% of a tree’s weight, and “only a fraction of this is currently being utilized, primarily for landscaping or for energy; the rest is left at the harvest or handling site to naturally decompose,” according to Sumanth Ranganathan, Dr.-Ing, a biochemical engineer at Scion, a research institute in Rotorua, New Zealand, and his colleagues. For some trees, though, that wasted bark is a potential treasure-trove of biopharmaceuticals, from anti-inflammatories to cancer-fighting drugs. …Each year, the country’s logging industry produces about 2.5 million metric tons of bark. Ranganathan’s team envisions feeding that into a bark-based biorefinery.

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Ireland’s bid to solve the housing crisis includes ‘Wood First’ plan

By Adam Higgins
The Irish Sun
June 17, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

IRELAND — The Government is branching out in its bid to solve the housing crisis with a new “Wood First” plan that will see timber become the main building material used to build our homes, schools and libraries. It comes as the Cabinet will today give the green light to emergency legislation to extend rent pressure zones across the country in a scramble to stop greedy landlords cashing in on the Coalition’s rental policy changes. Forestry Minister Micheal Healy-Rae said Ireland has excellent forest resources that are being underused in our construction sector
A series of memos will go before the Cabinet today. …Minister Martin Heydon will bring forward the first report from the Government’s Timber in Construction Steering Group which… believes that our forests have the capacity to supply the timber needed to build houses while also helping reach climate targets by reducing the need for steel and concrete.

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Unlocking Mass Timber: Strategies for Risk and Insurance

AON
June 11, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Mass timber construction is gaining traction for its sustainability and efficiency, yet it brings distinct insurance and risk management challenges that require industry collaboration and proactive strategies. Key Takeaways from this Article:

  • Mass timber offers both environmental and economic benefits, such as lower carbon emissions and faster construction. As the need for sustainable solutions grows, managing risks like fire safety and water damage is key to maximizing its potential.
  • Limited historical data on mass timber makes it challenging for insurers to develop comprehensive underwriting practices. Gathering data and educating stakeholders will be crucial to support the increasing demand for mass timber projects.
  • Businesses can mitigate mass timber risks and optimize its construction benefits by planning early, ensuring strong moisture management and partnering with skilled insurance brokers.

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Why is secondary timber still secondary?

By John Jervis
The RIBA Journal
June 11, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Maximising the use of bio-based products is key to meeting current sustainability targets. Yet according to sustainability consultancy Metabolic, using bio-based products for half of new housing in Europe would require production of engineered timber to increase nearly fivefold, and roundwood by four and a half times. Given the improbability of an uplift in production on that scale, as well as the current rapid growth in global demand and the UK’s own limited timber harvest, using the country’s waste timber to make ‘cross-laminated secondary timber’ – CLST – would seem to make a great deal of sense. Rather than its current fates of combustion for energy recovery, chipping for MDF, dumping in landfill, and other low-grade, non-circular activities, incorporating this plentiful material into supply chains would benefit the construction industry, as well as the country’s economy and environment. And it would also seem to be a highly achievable ambition – so why isn’t it happening?

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Mass timber provides options amid steel tariffs: Timberlab CEO

By Matthew Thibault
Construction Dive
June 11, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Amid the chaos of tariffs and economic uncertainty, Chris Evans is feeling deja vu with regards to the construction supply chain. Evans, the president of Swinerton-owned mass timber firm Timberlab, has helped the company through the process of building up a domestic supply chain. Evans said the company noted a lack of domestic supply, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. That led company leaders, in 2021, to work toward helping the firm become more vertically integrated, with its own fabrication facilities and domestic supply, and a sawmill coming online in 2027. Timberlab brought its first fabrication facility online in 2020 and a second in 2022, employing computer numerical control fabrication techniques to create cross-laminated timber and glulam, critical mass timber components.

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Forestry

Can Business Conserve Forests and Our Future?

By Seth Larson
World Wildlife Federation
June 25, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Last month, alarming new data were released showing record-breaking tropical forest loss in 2024—an 80% increase over the previous year. Forests are critical to our planet and to us as humans, so we need to double down on efforts to stop the loss of forests where possible and more responsibly manage forests that are earmarked for production. Businesses have a big role to play because 54% of the world’s forests are managed either wholly or partly for the production of things like timber, pulp and paper, and furniture. In this episode of Nature Breaking, host Seth Larson sits down with Linda Walker, WWF’s senior director of corporate engagement for forests, to explore the urgent threats to global forests and the role of business in helping reverse current trends. [Watch the interview on You Tube or read full transcript in story link]

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With global and UK timber demand increasing, it seems inappropriate to import so much

By Dougal Driver, CEO, Grown in Britain
The Timber Trades Journal
June 19, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

As a forester and now in my role at Grown in Britain, I regularly encounter a range of misconceptions about home-grown timber. …First, let’s address the elephant in the room. The UK imports a significant amount of timber, and these figures are often cited to suggest something isn’t working as it should be. However, increasing timber use in construction is a positive development, as it replaces more carbon-intensive materials. One of the key reasons Grown in Britain was set up – is we import substantial amounts of timber whilst neglecting our own forests and woodlands. Over 10 years ago, when GiB started, the government considered over 60% of our woods were not managed. Our initiative, alongside the efforts of many, has reduced this to nearer 40% today. …With global and UK timber demand increasing, it seems inappropriate to import so much when we’re not fully utilising our resources.

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Hiroshima tree seeds growing at university

By Eleanor Lawson
BBC News
June 18, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Seeds from two trees that survived the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima at the end of World War Two are being grown at a Staffordshire university. The seeds were collected from an oriental plane tree in the grounds of the Tenma Elementary School, which was destroyed by the bombing, and a 200-year-old ginkgo tree growing in Shukkeien Garden. Both trees were situated less than a mile from the bomb site on 6 August 1945 and miraculously survived the bombing. They will now be cared for by experts at Keele University until they become tall and sturdy enough to be planted in the ground. The university says it is part of an international project to promote peace and hope. The seeds were sent to Keele through the Green Legacy Hiroshima initiative, which aims to distribute seeds and saplings from ‘survivor trees’ worldwide.

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Logging company using ‘zombie’ permit from 1977 to log endangered possum habitat

By Angela Heathcote
ABC News, Australia
June 16, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A Victorian timber company is using what has been dubbed a “zombie” license from 1977 to log critically endangered mountain ash forest, including the habitat of the Leadbeater’s possum, which was once thought extinct. Conservationists said the activation of such an old licence was a loophole allowing the loggers to avoid the application of more recent laws designed to protect endangered plants and animals, and which require consultation with the public prior to logging. …The council approved the application, leaving environmentalists and some scientists furious. …Critically endangered Leadbeater’s possums have been observed on the perimeter of the property and in the state forest that neighbours the property. …Professor Lindenmayer said the logging of 16 hectares of mountain ash forest on this property could fragment Leadbeater’s possum populations.

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Old-growth forests and ancient trees: what you need to know

The World Economic Forum
June 17, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The world’s oldest forests are facing growing pressure from all sides. Their decline isn’t just an environmental concern – it carries serious consequences for people, climate stability and global biodiversity. According to a new World Resources Institute (WRI) report, the world lost more primary rainforest in 2024 than in any other year in at least the last two decades. The WRI defines primary forest as “old-growth forests that are typically high in carbon stock and rich in biodiversity”. …Human activity has dramatically reduced ancient forests worldwide. Take the UK, for example, which was at one time thought to be 75% covered by wildwood. Today, that figure is just 10%, with only a quarter of that being ancient woodland. …How can we break this cycle? It starts with tackling the problem at both ends: preventing deforestation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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One-Third of Forest Lost This Century Is Likely Gone for Good — and Remaining Loss Carries Lasting Consequences, New Analysis Warns

By Michelle Sims, Radost Stanimirova, Maxim Neumann, Anton Raichuk & Drew Purves
World Resources Institute
June 12, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

WASHINGTON, D.C. — One-third (34%) of all global forest lost between 2001 and 2024 is likely permanent — meaning trees in those areas are unlikely to grow back naturally — according to a new analysis by World Resources Institute (WRI) and Google DeepMind. The impact is even more severe in tropical primary rainforests, where a staggering 61% of loss is tied to permanent land use change — a major setback for some of the planet’s most vital ecosystems for biodiversity and carbon storage. Researchers also warn that while the remaining two-thirds of forest loss is typically linked to “temporary” disturbances like logging or wildfire — it can still have lasting consequences. Forests may take decades to recover. And even when they do, they don’t always return to full health. …Michelle Sims, Research Associate at WRI, “This knowledge is essential to developing smarter actions at the regional, national and even local level — to protect remaining forests and restore degraded ones”.

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Funds to tackle Europe’s forest fires poorly targeted, says EU watchdog

By Jennifer Rankin
The Guardian
June 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

European funds to prevent forest fires have been poorly targeted and sometimes distributed in a hurry, according to a report from the EU’s spending watchdog. The number of forest fires in EU countries has increased dramatically over the last two decades as the climate crisis fuels ever bigger conflagrations. An area twice the size of Luxembourg has been consumed by flames in an average recent year, killing people, destroying homes and wildlife and sending megatonnes of planet-heating emissions into the air. The European court of auditors praised the decision to devote more money to preventing fires but said European-funded projects were not always spent where they could make the biggest difference. In Greece, authorities were using a map drawn up in 1980 to assess the risk of forest fires. In Portugal, one area selected as a priority for funds contained a zone that was underwater due to a recently built dam.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Could Canada’s carbon capture ambitions catch a chill from Iceland’s struggling Mammoth project?

By Darius Snieckus
The National Observer
June 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

Iceland and Canada lie over 4,500 kilometres apart on a world map, yet news that a pioneering carbon removal project near Reykjavik is falling well short of expectations a year after its launch has hit home with some North American sector skeptics closely watching the climate technology’s progress. Switzerland’s Climeworks, which has raised US $800 million, opened the world’s largest operational direct air capture (DAC) plant, known as Mammoth. But the facility, which uses what look like walls of giant fans to capture CO2 directly from the air and then pumps it deep underground, has not measured up to expectations. …The slow start has sparked discussion in clean energy circles over the wisdom. …Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada could be a leader in carbon capture and storage as part of a controversial effort to decarbonize oil and gas, including extending tax credits and setting carbon dioxide removal targets.

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‘Win-win’: new maps reveal best opportunities for global reforestation

By Damian Carrington
The Guardian UK
June 11, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, United States, International

New maps have revealed the best “win-win” opportunities across the world to regrow forests and tackle the climate crisis, without harming people or wildlife. The places range from the eastern US and western Canada, to Brazil and Columbia, and across Europe. If reforested, this would remove 2.2bn tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, about the same as all the nations in the European Union. Previous maps have suggested much larger areas but were criticised for including important ecosystems. …The result was a map showing 195 million hectares of reforestation opportunity, an area equivalent to the size of Mexico but up to 90% smaller than previous maps. …“Reforestation is not a substitute for cutting fossil fuel emissions, but even if we were to drive down emissions tomorrow, we still need to remove excess CO2,” said Dr Susan Cook-Patton, at The Nature Conservancy and author of the new study, published in the journal Nature Communications

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Safe Wood Pellet Storage

Wood Pellet Association of Canada
June 12, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: Canada, International

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada, FutureMetrics and Ørsted are hosting a one-day workshop—Safe Wood Pellet Storage: Preventing, Detecting, and Managing Self-Heating Incidents in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 3, 2025. Join industry experts for a crucial discussion on the risks, detection, and prevention of self-heating incidents in wood pellet storage. This workshop will offer invaluable insights into major incidents, technical causes, risk mitigation strategies, and emergency response procedures, assisting professionals in enhancing safety standards across storage facilities. This workshop is a must-attend event for professionals seeking to enhance pellet storage safety, mitigate fire risks, and improve operational resilience in large-scale storage environments. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with leading specialists and drive industry-wide improvements forward.

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Unprecedented fires fueled by climate change threaten iconic World Heritage forests

UNESCO World Heritage Conservation
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

In an update to the joint UNESCO-WRI-IUCN report “World Heritage forests: carbon sinks under pressure”, new data reveals that fires have accounted for approximately 75% of tree cover loss in World Heritage sites. Steadily increasing tree cover loss due to fires, fueled by climate change, has led to record high emissions, and threatens the robust carbon sinks of forests in World Heritage sites. Since 2001, approximately 4.5 million hectares of forest—more than the area of Switzerland—have been lost across World Heritage sites, with fires responsible for around 75% of that loss. The vast majority — approximately 80% — of all fire-related tree cover loss occurred in high-latitude forests, primarily across North America and Siberia. Forests in Australia account for an additional 15% of the loss, while all other regions contributed approximately 5%.

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Why forests are the next frontier in climate investment

Environmental Finance
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Andrew Boutwell

Investors increasingly understand the role sustainable forestry can play in the path to a net zero economy, argues Andrew Boutwell, Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Management at Forest Investment Associates. Investors increasingly see forests as platforms for a broader set of value streams, for example ranging from carbon credits and conservation finance to renewable energy siting, mitigation banking, and participation in the growing bio-economy. As the pricing of natural capital becomes more sophisticated and land markets respond to climate adaptation needs, we believe diversified forest portfolios will be well-positioned to capture these uplift opportunities. This shift is driving renewed focus on land use optimisation through data, analytics, and active management. From converting marginal plantations to solar use, to improving productivity on high-quality soils, to conserving ecologically sensitive areas, diversified forest portfolios enable strategic flexibility. For investors, this means cash flow from timber alongside exposure to a growing set of land-based value drivers aligned with climate-smart use.

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Woodchips from endangered possum habitat sold to Domino’s for woodfired pizza

By Angela Heathcote
ABC News Australia
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

When Domino’s advertised its “smokehouse” pizzas in 2023, it trumpeted that the meat was smoked over timber logged from “Aussie Mountain ash”. It also advertised that the timber was certified as sustainable. But what the advertising didn’t promote was that mountain ash forests are critically endangered, with logging listed as one of the key processes threatening them. And now the ABC can reveal the certification that assured consumers that logging was sustainable was breached in seven different ways, according to the organisation that accredits certifiers. Those breaches included potentially stealing the trees from the neighbouring state forest, ignoring protections for waterways and logging potential endangered species habitat. “I think Australians should be absolutely appalled that the world’s tallest flowering tree is chipped up to make woodchips to smoke pork bellies to put on pizzas. It’s ridiculous. What are we talking about? Endangered possum pizzas?” Professor Lindenmayer said.

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Policymakers often ignore forest regeneration in fight against climate change, research finds

By Stefanie Eschenbacher
Reuters
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Naturally-regenerating forests are often ignored by policymakers working to curb climate change even though they hold an untapped potential to rapidly absorb planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere, scientists found in a research paper published Tuesday. These so-called secondary forests, which have regenerated themselves after being razed, often for agriculture, can help bring the world closer to the net-zero emissions target needed to slow global warming, the research published in the journal shows. That is because these young forests, which are made of trees between two and four decades old, can remove carbon from the atmosphere up to eight times faster per hectare than forests that were just planted, they found. It comes as companies worldwide are raising millions of dollars to regrow forests from scratch to generate carbon credits they can sell to polluting industries seeking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

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Policymakers often ignore forest regeneration in fight against climate change, research finds

By Stefanie Eschenbacher
Reuters
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Naturally-regenerating forests are often ignored by policymakers working to curb climate change even though they hold an untapped potential to rapidly absorb planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere, scientists found in a research paper published Tuesday. These so-called secondary forests, which have regenerated themselves after being razed, often for agriculture, can help bring the world closer to the net-zero emissions target needed to slow global warming, the research published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows. That is because these young forests, which are made of trees between two and four decades old, can remove carbon from the atmosphere up to eight times faster per hectare than forests that were just planted, they found. … “It’s a constant cycle of deforestation,” said Nathaniel Robinson, one of the authors and a scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry.

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Rise in legal challenges over carbon credit schemes

By Isabella Kaminski
The Guardian UK
June 25, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Judges across the world are proving sceptical of companies’ attempts to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by buying carbon credits, a report has found. In an analysis of nearly 3,000 climate-related lawsuits filed around the world since 2015, the latest annual review of climate litigation by the London School of Economics found action against corporations in particular was “evolving”, with growing scrutiny of how companies plan to meet their stated climate commitments. Dozens of legal challenges over the past decade have raised arguments related to carbon credits, and many have been successful. Last month, Energy Australia acknowledged that carbon offsets did not prevent or undo damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. …Cases such as these “focus on the integrity of carbon credits and the claims that can be made regarding the carbon emissions of a product or service when credits are purchased to ‘offset’ emissions from that product or service”, the LSE report found.

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Protecting Naturally Regrowing Forests Is a Crucial — and Overlooked — Climate Solution

By David Gibbs, Susan Cook-Patton and Nathaniel Robinson
World Resources Institute
June 24, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Protecting and restoring forests are essential for curbing climate change. But while efforts often focus on conserving mature forests and planting new trees (both of which are badly needed), a critical piece of the puzzle is often overlooked: managing naturally regrowing forests to increase the carbon they remove. Until now, scientists did not have a detailed picture of the carbon removal value of naturally regrowing forests. But new research by The Nature Conservancy, WRI and partners shows that naturally regenerating “secondary forests” (which have regrown after being cleared by harvests, severe fires, agriculture or other disturbances) could be especially powerful for fighting climate change. It is the first to show where, and at what ages, they can have the biggest impact. We found that secondary forests between 20 and 40 years old can remove carbon from the atmosphere up to 8 times faster per hectare than new natural growth —if they’re allowed to reach those older ages.

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Healthy production systems are key to sustainable biomass supply

European Commission Joint Research Centre
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

While biomass production and extraction in the European Union continue to grow, its long-term viability is at risk due to declining ecosystem conditions. A new report calls for more coherent governance and urgent actions to ensure that biomass production and use are compatible with ecological limits and policy goals… The report shows that while forest conditions have improved in 33 forest ecosystems, their situation declined significantly in northern Scandinavia, the Carpathians, and the Iberian Peninsula. Based on forest growth modelling simulations, which assume that current trends of 2% GDP growth persist, we could be facing an increase in roundwood demand of 30% by 2050, compared with 2020 figures. Under the current forestry regimes, this could result in demand for wood exceeding available domestic EU supply by 6%.

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UK to Scrap Green Levies for Heavy Industry in Push for Growth

By Philip Aldrick
Bloomberg News in the Financial Post
June 22, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Keir Starmer

LONDON — Energy costs will be cut for as many as 7,000 UK businesses as the government scraps green levies to level the playing field with foreign rivals and boost growth under its new ten-year Industrial Strategy. Big users of electricity will be exempted from several climate schemes from 2027 to reduce their bills by as much as 25% and protect 300,000 skilled jobs, the government said. Separately, heavy industries like steel, chemicals and glass will have their network charges, paid to maintain the grid, discounted by 90% from next year – up from 60% currently. …Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the strategy “marks a turning point for Britain’s economy.” …Labour insisted the exemptions would complement its “long-term mission for clean power” and… will be “funded through reforms to the energy system,” specifically higher UK carbon pricing. As part of the recent trade deal with the European Union, the government agreed to rejoin the EU carbon market.

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FutureMetrics: Changing UK Policy Could Boost Demand For Thermally Treated Wood Pellets

By Erin Voegele
Biomass Magazine
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

FutureMetrics LLC on June 17 published a white paper discussing how expected changes to U.K. bioenergy subsidies could cause the Drax and Lynemouth Power Stations to consider using thermally treated wood pellets. The two facilities are the world’s largest consumers of wood pellet fuel for power generation. Drax operates four 650 megawatt (MW) units that were converted from coal to wood pellets, while Lynmouth operates three 140 MW units that were converted from coal to wood pellets. Together, the facilities consume 8 to 9 million metric tons per year of wood pellets. Most of that fuel is sourced from North America and must be kept dry during storage and transportation. …FutureMetrics explains that this interim subsidy program is expected to create significant changes to the generation profiles of the Drax and Lynmouth facilities, as operations will only be supported when power from the plants is needed to meet demand. 

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Ancient trees are shipped to the UK, then burned – using billions in ‘green’ subsidies. Stop this madness now

By Dale Vince, owner of Ecotricity
The Guardian
June 21, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Dale Vince

[Opinion by Dale Vince] How green is this? We pay billions of pounds to cut down ancient forests in the US and Canada, ship the wood across the Atlantic in diesel tankers, then burn it in a Yorkshire-based power station. Welcome to the scandal of Drax, where Britain’s biggest polluter gets to play climate hero. The reality is that billions in public subsidies has enabled Drax to generate electricity by burning 300m trees. Now the government is trying to force through an extension that would grant Drax an estimated £1.8bn in public subsidies on top of the £11bn it has already pocketed, keeping this circus going until at least 2031. This isn’t green energy. The mathematics alone should horrify anyone who cares about value for money or the environment. Burning wood creates 18% more CO2 emissions than coal. Even if you replant every tree Drax destroys, it takes up to a century for new growth to reabsorb the carbon released.

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Biomass satellite returns striking first images of forests and more

The European Space Agency
June 23, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Today, at the Living Planet Symposium, ESA revealed the first stunning images from its groundbreaking Biomass satellite mission – marking a major leap forward in our ability to understand how Earth’s forests are changing and exactly how they contribute to the global carbon cycle. But these inaugural glimpses go beyond forests. Remarkably, the satellite is already showing potential to unlock new insights into some of Earth’s most extreme environments. Biomass – an Earth Explorer research mission developed within ESA’s FutureEO programme – was launch less than two months ago. This new mission is, therefore, still in the process of being commissioned, but its first set of images are stunning none the less. …Biomass is the first satellite to carry a P-band synthetic aperture radar, its signal capable of penetrating forest canopies to measure woody biomass – trunks, branches and stems. These measurements serve as a proxy for carbon storage, the assessment of which is the mission’s primary objective.

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Innovative guide to scaling up smart use of fast-growing trees

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
June 18, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The International Commission on Poplars and Other Fast-Growing Trees Sustaining People and the Environment (IPC) hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today published a comprehensive guide on the innovative use of fast-growing trees to help sustain people and the environment amid the climate crisis. The report explains the qualities of different species of fast-growing trees and the economic and environmental benefits they bring in a wide range of settings when managed sustainably. It also outlines the potential to maximise those benefits globally using the latest science and innovative practices. “Fast-growing trees have a strategic role to developing a thriving global bioeconomy,” said Zhimin Wu, Director of FAO’s Forestry Division. “They also provide livelihoods for local communities and hold significant potential for combating climate change.”

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DS Smith activates €90m biomass boiler at Rouen mill

Bioenergy Insight Magazine
June 18, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

DS Smith has brought online a €90 million biomass boiler at its Rouen paper mill in Normandy, France – one of Europe’s largest mill energy transitions to date. The new system replaces the site’s coal-fired boiler with a low-carbon, circular solution powered by locally sourced biomass waste. The project is expected to cut CO₂ emissions by 99,000 tonnes annually – equivalent to removing 40,000 cars from the road or powering 13,000 French homes each year. The boiler will process around 94,000 tonnes of biomass fuel each year, including industrial and municipal waste wood – mainly from the Paris and Normandy regions – as well as paper production by-products. Up to 70,000 tonnes of wood waste will be diverted from landfill annually, supporting DS Smith’s 2030 zero-landfill target.

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Who really holds the rights to trees and carbon in the Philippines?

By Angela Arnante
BusinessWorld
June 16, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The Phillipines sits on a goldmine of forest and carbon wealth. But an unclear and short-sighted property rights regime is choking its potential; existing rules are partially to be blamed. Forest lands, which are State-owned lands, span 15.8 million hectares or half of the country’s total land area. The 1987 Constitution states that all lands of the public domain, forest lands included, belong to the State. It can either manage them directly or partner with private entities, as long as Filipino citizens own at least 60% of the company involved and these agreements last 25 years, renewable for another 25. This legal framework along with existing policies, designed to regulate the exploitation of natural resources like mining and logging, now constrains investment in regenerative and non-extractive activities such as reforestation and carbon sequestration… The current tenure framework on forest lands does not match the biological and economic realities of forest and carbon development.

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