SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Suzano, the world’s largest pulp producer, and Kimberly-Clark announced the creation of a US$3.4 billion joint venture focused on the manufacture, marketing and distribution of consumer and professional tissue products, such as toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and facial tissues in over 70 countries. Suzano will acquire a 51% interest in the new entity, with Kimberly-Clark holding a 49% interest. Suzano will pay Kimberly-Clark US$1.734 billion in cash at the closing of the transaction. …The transaction is expected to close in mid-2026 and involves approximately 9,000 employees. The new business will be a company incorporated in the Netherlands and will include 22 manufacturing facilities located in 14 countries. Collectively, these facilities have capacity to produce 1 million tonnes of tissue a year. The assets to be included in the new joint venture generated net sales in 2024 of US$3.3 billion. Kimberly-Clark will retain its consumer tissue and professional businesses in the US.
International Pulp Week 2025 opened in Vancouver with a note of celebration and reflection as delegates marked the event’s 20th anniversary. “After decades of being in Montreal in January… we decided to move the event to Vancouver and into the spring and summer months,” said Tim Brown, Vice-President at Numera Analytics. 
…Mikko Antsalo began by stating, “Softwood pulp markets are projected to remain well-balanced,” citing steady demand growth and the absence of new capacity announcements as stabilizing factors. He concluded by reinforcing Metsä Fibre’s preparedness for the future: “We offer customers an optimized supply chain, fossil-free production, and are well positioned to fulfill upcoming sustainability requirements.” 
Jonathan Rhone, CEO of CO280, began by stating that “capturing and permanently sequestering biogenic CO₂ from boiler stack emissions represents a $100 billion per year market opportunity for the global pulp and paper sector.” The market, he said, is being created by global technology and financial firms—“Microsoft, JPMorgan, Google”—that are purchasing high-durability carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) to meet their net zero obligations.
…Parker Budding, representing Osapiens, followed with a presentation on how pulp producers can prepare for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which comes into force on December 31, 2025. The regulation prohibits companies from placing products on the EU market unless they can prove the goods are deforestation-free and legally produced.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to let many of President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on US trade partners remain in effect for now, extending a pause issued late last month after a separate court ruled the tariffs were illegal. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals granted the Trump administration’s request for a longer pause after issuing a temporary stay of the lower court ruling last month. The court put the case on a fast track to be resolved by the end of this summer, noting that “these cases present issues of exceptional importance warranting expedited en banc consideration of the merits in the first instance.” The decision comes after the US Court of International Trade ruled on May 28 that Congress did not delegate “unbounded” tariff authority to the president in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. Trump appealed the ruling and, hours later, the appeals court granted the temporary stay.
LONDON — US and Chinese officials said on Tuesday they had agreed on a framework to get their trade truce back on track and remove China’s export restrictions on rare earths while offering little sign of a durable resolution to longstanding trade tensions. …Lutnick said the agreement would remove restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets and some of the recent US export restrictions “in a balanced way”, but did not provide details…. adding that both sides will now return to present the framework to their respective presidents for approvals. …The two sides left Geneva with fundamentally different views of the terms of that agreement and needed to be more specific on required actions, said Josh Lipsky. …They have until August 10 to negotiate a more comprehensive agreement, or tariff rates will snap back from about 30% to 145% on the U.S. side and from 10% to 125% on the Chinese side.
While the pulp and paper industry is inherently local—particularly in terms of production and sourcing of raw materials—trade is fundamentally cross-border and international. As a result, the sector is highly exposed to trade barriers and tensions, such as those created by the tariff policies introduced during the Trump administration. Tariffs are expected to put significant pressure on transportation and logistics—sectors that are intrinsically linked to the pulp and paper industry. This strain is partly mitigated by the fact that many pulp and paper companies have made substantial investments in overseas production capacity. Recent mergers in the industry, such as the Smurfit Kappa–WestRock merger and the International Paper–DS Smith merger, are also likely to offset some of the negative impacts of tariffs. These newly formed giants now operate production facilities in both Europe and the US. …This consolidation trend may render the pulp and paper industry more resilient. 
The EU has imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese plywood imports, just a few days after Beijing tried to ease trade tensions between the two. The provisional levies of up to 62.4% follow a surge in imports of hardwood plywood over the past three years that had damaged domestic producers, the European Commission said. The Greenwood Consortium of EU producers, which brought a complaint against Chinese competitors last year, said it welcomed the move but argued for “definitive duties to be even higher than these provisional levels” when the commission makes a final decision later this year. Brussels has also taken the unusual step of monitoring imports of softwood plywood, which is not subject to duties, after allegations that Chinese exporters were disguising hardwood products in anticipation of the levies. …“The alleged practice consisted of placing very thin outer layers of softwood veneer on top of the hardwood plywood face veneer. 
New Zealand exporters sending wood, beef and leather products to the European Union will soon have to comply with new rules that aim to reduce deforestation in the supply chain. New Zealand government officials and industry opposed the approach to anti-deforestation taken by the incoming European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). This was due to increased compliance costs exporters would face in proving their products had not contributed to the loss of trees. …For New Zealand, this will affect the $213 million export trade. Exporters of wood products – a trade to Europe valued at around $100 million – would be required to provide traceability processes to show that their products did not contribute to deforestation, too. …The Wood Processors and Manufacturers’ Association’s Mark Ross, said a working group with forest growers, wood processors, and the Government had been set up to work through some issues, such as geolocation requirements.
At International Pulp Week, three speakers discussed businesses that connect to China’s role in the global pulp industry — including trading, port logistics and the futures market. Haidong Weng, Executive Vice President of Pulp & Paper Research at Xiamen C&D… explained that after the US implemented its third wave of tariffs, Chinese exports of paper and board to the US fell sharply, with vessel density in major Chinese ports reflecting a significant pullback in trade flows. …He also described the cascading effects on US retail markets. …The scale and resilience of China’s port logistics were front and centre in a presentation by Tian Jun, representing the Shanghai International Port Group’s Luo Jing Terminal. Tian explained that SIPG views pulp as a strategic growth cargo across its network of general cargo terminals. …Another presentation came via video from Chi-Fei Fei of the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), who provided an overview of China’s pulp futures market.
At International Pulp Week, Mathieu Wener, Senior Economist at Numera Analytics, provided a detailed overview of current trends in key end-use markets for pulp, with a particular focus on tissue and printing and writing papers. Drawing on recent data and modelling, he examined how these sectors have evolved post-pandemic, what is driving demand patterns today, and what may lie ahead. Wener began with tissue markets, where profitability has remained strong despite considerable cost pressures in recent years. “Producers passed through rising costs since 2022,” he noted, showing how eurozone parent roll and pulp prices had shifted over that period. Although price differentials between pulp and tissue had narrowed, margins remained healthy.” …Wener underscored the importance of tracking both macroeconomic forces and demographic trends in shaping pulp demand. For tissue, slowing population growth and cautious consumer behaviour would temper growth expectations. For printing and writing papers, the secular decline would continue, but at a somewhat more stable pace.
The final presenter at International Pulp Week, Emanuele Bona, VP of Europe for the Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC), provided a comprehensive update on global market pulp demand trends, with a particular focus on the rebound underway in 2025 and the longer-term outlook for key markets and product segments. Bona began by noting that 2024 had been a weak year for market pulp demand, with global chemical market pulp demand falling by 0.9 percent. However, the first months of 2025 showed a marked improvement. “In 2025, after four months, demand is up almost one million tonnes,” he reported. Both softwood and hardwood pulp segments contributed to this recovery. …Looking ahead, Bona projected that global market pulp demand would return to growth but at a more moderate pace. “Growth to average 1.5 percent through 2029,” he said. The long-term trend for softwood pulp was expected to remain flat at best, while hardwood demand growth was projected to slow despite ongoing substitution trends.
Economic growth forecasts for the US and globally were cut further by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OEDC) as President Trump’s tariff turmoil weighs on expectations. The US growth outlook was downwardly revised to just 1.6% this year and 1.5% in 2026. In March, the OECD was still expecting a 2.2% expansion in 2025. The fallout from Trump’s tariff policy, elevated economic policy uncertainty, a slowdown of net immigration and a smaller federal workforce were cited as reasons for the latest downgrade. Global growth, meanwhile, is also expected to be lower than previously forecast, with the OECD saying that “the slowdown is concentrated in the United States, Canada and Mexico”. “Global GDP growth is projected to slow from 3.3% in 2024 to 2.9% this year and in 2026. It had previously forecast global growth of 3.1% this year and 3% in 2026. …The OECD adjusted its inflation forecast, saying “higher trade costs will also push up inflation.”
An increasing demand for timber to meet Australia’s housing targets is set to drive a change in focus for one of Australia’s largest forestry regions. The Green Triangle, situated across the southern South Australia–Victorian border, has about 334,000 hectares of plantations, representing 17 per cent of Australia’s forestry industry. The region grows a mix of softwood timber, primarily used in domestic construction, and hardwood, which is often exported as wood chips and used in paper manufacturing. But as Australia looks to meet its goal of building 1.2 million new homes by 2029, investment in softwood is growing fast. “Both the state and the federal governments have incentives in place for industry and private investors to grow radiata pine,” University of Melbourne forest ecologist Rod Keenan said.
New Forests, a global investment manager of nature-based real assets and natural capital strategies, is today announcing its Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 (TAFF2) has made its first investment in timber processing infrastructure in Vietnam by investing in the Tavico Group (Tavico), one of the country’s leading suppliers of solid wood lumber and logs. Tavico was founded in 2005 as a log trader and sawn timber mill with annual production capacity of 12,000m3 of lumber per annum, which is equivalent to approximately 800 medium sized houses. Tavico has established a 3,200-hectare FSC certified community forestry program with small holder farmers which provides employment and revenue sharing opportunities for local communities. The investment from TAFF2 will look to expand this program for smallholder farmers in Vietnam.
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND — The International Sustainable Forestry Coalition (ISFC) welcomes the release by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) of its new Standard covering the way greenhouse gas accounting should be applied to wood and wood-based products. Until the publication of this Standard, there had not been an internationally agreed upon accounting approach for biogenic carbon emissions and removals – an important piece of the puzzle to support corporate climate action and reach global net zero targets. The new series is ISO 13391 Wood and wood-based products — Greenhouse gas dynamics, and covers all essential components of carbon accounting for the sector: carbon in forests, carbon in harvested wood products and potential greenhouse gas emissions avoided through the use of wood-based products instead of fossil-based products.
The legacy sewing pattern brands Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue, commonly referred to as the Big 4, have been sold to a liquidator. 
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.
Urgent action must be taken to avoid a loss of wildlife due to the “plummeting” condition of the UK’s woodlands, according to a new report. The report, published by the Woodland Trust on Tuesday, found that the quality of woodland is on the decline, despite a slight increase in tree cover. Woodland covers 24% of Surrey, making it the most wooded county in England. Abigail Bunker, director of conservation and external affairs at the trust, said: “We are calling on the government and others to invest in the management of our woodlands.” She said investing in woodland management would mean wildlife could experience the benefits “of these precious ecosystems”. Woodlands are becoming less effective as habitats for wildlife because they lack complexity, such as having enough trees of differing ages, states and sizes.
SWEDEN — To combat the growing risks from unsustainable business practices, governments and regulators worldwide require corporates to bring greater transparency and reporting to their sustainability impact. When comes to reporting, however, arguably, not all industries are the same. Forests are key to addressing both climate change and biodiversity loss, two of the most urgent challenges for the global community. …If reporting (and other) regulations are to encourage forestry organizations, and their stakeholders, to make more sustainable choices, more needs to be done to increase understanding of the specific sustainability impacts of the industry. Three key areas should be addressed: reporting models, underlying data, and success cases. …An evolving regulatory environment with potential broad implications for forest companies combined with a fragmented reporting landscape diminishes the useability of information for stakeholders as a steering tool. 
A quarter of a Welsh city will be covered by tree canopies within 10 years due to a new plan to boost its “urban forest”. Almost 30,000 trees will be planted in Newport to supplement about 250,000 existing trees. Wales was the first country in the world to measure its urban tree coverage. The council hopes these trees and others planted by private developers and landowners will take canopy cover in Newport – which at 18% had the highest proportion of any Welsh city in 2016 – to 25%. Joanne Gossage, service manager for environment and leisure at Newport council said the city had “green oasis” parks. She said: “We feel that Newport is a very green city and we don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to get to that 25%. “People’s perception of an urban forest is something dark, perhaps menacing and dingy. It’s not. It’s about trees making attractive frameworks in limited open space.”
Around the world, nefarious state and nonstate actors are extracting enormous value from forests to fund their operations. The unlawful clearing of land and the harvest, transport, purchase, and sale of timber and related commodities have long been dismissed as a niche concern of environmental activists. But this is a mistake. Although unsustainable deforestation imperils the environment, illegal logging also poses an outsize—and underacknowledged—geopolitical threat. Environmental crime constitutes a growing economic and national security threat to the United States and countries around the world. Yet Washington has largely ignored illegal logging’s role in its fight against transnational criminal organizations, drug cartels, terrorists, and rogue regimes, as well as China’s part in this illicit trade. Thankfully, the blueprint for fighting transnational crime already exists: better cooperation among governments, increased enforcement, more transparent supply chains, public-private partnerships, and most important, following the money.
Replanting forests can help cool the planet even more than some scientists once believed, especially in the tropics. But even if every tree lost since the mid-19th century is replanted, the total effect won’t cancel out human-generated warming. …In a new study 
Hundreds of top environment lawyers are suing the New Zealand government over what they say is its “dangerously inadequate” plan to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. It is the first time the country’s emissions reduction plan has faced litigation, and the lawyers believe it is the first case globally that challenges the use of forestry to offset emissions. …two groups representing more than 300 lawyers filed judicial review proceedings against the government in Wellington’s high court on Tuesday. The groups … claim … the government has abandoned dozens of tools to tackle emissions, failed to adequately consult the public, and too heavily relies on high-risk carbon capture strategies such as forestry. …They claim that the government is relying on “high risk” methods such as planting hundreds of thousands of hectares of introduced pine trees to offset emissions, and capturing carbon underground, with few alternatives to fall back on if something goes wrong.
Researchers from the University of Nottingham and CSIRO Australia have developed a pioneering combined milling and combustion performance model to improve the selection of low carbon fuels for power generation. Published in the 
Rio Tinto has started growing pongamia trees in northern Australia, as part of a biofuels project aimed at reducing the mining giant’s reliance on fossil fuels. Pongamia trees are native to Australia and produce oil-rich seeds that can be processed into renewable diesel… Earlier this year, Rio Tinto trialled 10 million litres of renewable diesel — created from used cooking oil — across its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia. The biofuel got used across the supply chain, featuring in Rio Tinto’s rail, marine, haul trucks, surface mining equipment and light vehicles… Forestry Industry Association of the Northern Territory (FIANT) manager Hanna Lillicrap said it was great to see a major mining company getting involved in the forestry sector. “It reflects a growing recognition of the role forestry can play as a climate-positive solution in emissions reduction strategies,” she said. “It’s great to see serious investment going into research to better understand the species and its potential,” she said.
The sun and sky had a much more eerie appearance to it on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It was a sign that smoke from wildfires burning more than 4,000 miles (6,400km) away in central Canada had made it across the Atlantic to sit in the skies over the UK. BBC WeatherWatchers from all corners of the country were out capturing the spectacle. …The change in the appearance of the sun and sky is due to smoke particles in the atmosphere scattering the blue wavelengths of light more, allowing predominantly orange and red hues to reach our eyes. …The presence of wildfire smoke from North America over the UK, whilst not common, does occasionally happen during the summer months. …Here in the UK, the smoke plume is at too high an altitude to affect our air quality.
Canada’s wildfires have forced evacuations of more than 26,000 people and continue to spread with heavy smoke choking millions of Canadians and Americans and reaching as far away as Europe. Hazardous air quality alerts were issued for parts of Canada and the neighbouring United States. A water tanker air base was consumed by flames in Saskatchewan province, oil production has been disrupted in Alberta, and more communities are threatened each day. “We have some challenging days ahead of us,” said Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, adding that the number of evacuees could rise quickly. …Heavy smoke has engulfed part of the continent, forcing residents of four Canadian provinces and the US states of Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin to limit outdoor activities. …Elsewhere, extensive forest fires have been raging in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District since early April, generating carbon emissions of around 35 million tons, Copernicus reported.