HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s wood industry has chances and also challenges due to the predicted new trade policies of US President-elect Donald Trump. In the first 11 months of 2024, Việt Nam’s timber and wooden product exports to the US, one of the most important export markets for the Vietnamese industry, were estimated at over US$14.6 billion. Đỗ Xuân Lập, Chairman of the Việt Nam Timber and Forest Products Association, said the total export value this year is expected to reach over $16.2 billion, including $9 billion from the US or 56 per cent of total export value. …However, the export activities of Việt Nam’s wood industry will face strong challenges from the impact of US policies in early 2025. According to Lập, the US is likely to impose new trade policies when Trump is formally sworn in as the US President.
The inventory destocking that occurred in virtually every industry in 2023 is coming to an end. Destocking occurred as supply chains normalized in a post-COVID world.
DUBLIN, Ireland —The housing affordability crisis that has frustrated young Americans for a decade has now taken hold in many big cities in Europe and beyond. The common threads: robust job growth, rising demand and not enough new development, causing rents and sales prices to rise faster than wages. Globally, homes are now less affordable than they were in the run-up to the 2008 housing crisis. …The resulting housing crunches are eroding living standards for poor and middle-class workers, intensifying wealth inequality and stoking political tensions. …In the 50 years through 2021, the countries with the sharpest rise in home prices around the world have been New Zealand, the U.K., Canada, Australia and Ireland. …Politicians in Canada, the U.K., Australia, Germany and South Korea are trying to boost construction by easing rules, including opening up undeveloped land for construction. National governments, though, are hamstrung by state and local rules that favor existing homeowners over renters, Hughes and Hilber said.
This research concerned the possible use of waste poppy straw as an alternative source for producing lignocellulosic materials. The suitability of the materials for paper products and particleboard was determined based on the selected properties measured. While poppy-based particleboards need further optimization to match wood fibres, they show comparable properties to agricultural residues. Future research should focus on improving resin types and pressing conditions to enhance performance. From the point of view of paper products, poppy pulp produced by the pulping process has better properties than nitrate-alkaline pulp. …Therefore, both applications of waste poppy appear to be alternative raw materials in the future, especially in the case of wood scarcity, which can ensure the continuity of production and composite materials in an economically advantageous and more environmentally friendly way. Using poppy straw has environmental benefits such as reducing deforestation and the carbon footprint…
Answer: Yes, at least for well-being. Wood has many qualities that are impossible to replicate. There are many academically approved studies highlighting the positive impact of forests and trees on humans. Recently, there has also been high-quality research on the benefits of using wood as a construction material. Wood is a restorative material that supports well-being. A Slovakian study found that wooden materials with brownish colours are ideal for relaxation. Another study highlighted that the use of wooden materials positively impacts the human nervous system due to their appealing aesthetics. Seeing or smelling wood in a building boosts positive feelings and reduces negative perceptions of the environment. And this – a positive feeling about the environment – is not a minor thing, says Riina Muilu-Mäkelä, Research Manager and Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
The European Council has formally adopted the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, meaning it will now enter into force in EU law. As the final step in the ordinary legislative procedure, the Council’s approval of the Regulation allows it to be published in the EU’s Official Journal; in turn, its rules will apply eighteen months after its entry into force. It is hoped that the rules will cut down on the generation of new waste by encompassing the full life cycle of packaging. Among the Regulation’s targets are minimum recycled content thresholds, ranging from 10% for contact-sensitive packaging made of non-PET plastic by 2030 to 65% for single-use plastic bottles by 2040. The amount of recycled content in a pack, its material make-up, and other sustainability-related information must be provided to consumers through on-pack labelling, marking, and information. …Reuse targets have also been set for 2030, alongside indicative targets for 2040. 
FSC has extended the blockage period of a Chinese bamboo plywood manufacturer by 1.5 years for repeatedly making false claims on large volumes of bamboo plywood. Despite being blocked by FSC in 2022 for making false claims, FSC found evidence that the company recertified itself under a different name. The company did not disclose its certification history to the new certification body and continued to make false claims on its products despite being blocked by FSC. …FSC considers the actions and intentions of Anji Double Tiger (and Anji Shuanghu) to be a serious threat to the integrity of the FSC system. Thus, in accordance with FSC’s Advice Note 18, FSC has blocked the company till July 2027. FSC has evidence of how this company, operating under its two names, repeatedly made false claims. 
Global deforestation rates have declined, but forests remain under significant pressure. Rising demands for forest products and climate-related challenges have led to calls for better conservation measures. The European Union had 160 million hectares of forest in 2022, covering 39 per cent of its land, an increase of 8.3 million hectares since 2000. The largest forest areas are in Sweden, Finland, and Spain. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), the EU’s average forest connectivity, a crucial indicator for supporting biodiversity, was 80.6 per cent in 2021, a slight decline of 0.8 per cent compared to 2018. Larger forest areas, such as those in Slovenia, Romania, Finland, and Sweden, contribute significantly to higher connectivity, while smaller fragmented forests rely on forest strips to maintain connectivity. …Initiatives such as the Nature Restoration regulation, forest and biodiversity strategies for 2030, and a pledge to plant three billion trees by 2030, aim to enhance connectivity.
Here is some of the latest climate research:
The Irish government’s COFORD Council for Forest Research and Development has published a paper that recommends future policies to support an expanded role of forest-based biomass. The paper, entitled “
Only four fines out of 5,600 complaints have been issued for illegal burning of wood in smoke-control areas from September 2023 to August 2024 in England, data has revealed… A recent survey found 22% of the UK public use an open fire and/or wood-burning stove in their home. It also found that 37% of Londoners surveyed said they use an open fire and/or a wood-burning stove in their home, despite the capital being a smoke-control area. In smoke-control areas, which have higher levels of pollution, people can only burn wood and other unauthorised fuels in government-approved stoves and other appliances. This is because the approved appliances have air control mechanisms that improve combustion efficiency and reduce the amount of harmful particles released.
NEWCASTLE, Australia — Communities and firefighters across Australia’s second-most populous state were preparing Thursday for potentially devastating wild fires as a heat wave fanned by erratic winds presented the worst fire conditions in several years. With temperatures in Victoria state reaching 37 degrees Celsius and with wind changes expected throughout the day, fire chiefs have issued stark warnings to rural communities to delay travel or leave their homes and seek safety at shelters. Several fires are currently burning out of control across the state and Victoria deputy premier Ben Carroll said the possibility for further fires in the coming days was likely. …Parts of neighboring South Australia and New South Wales states are also on high alert due to the heat wave and elevated fire risks. The hot, dry conditions are being compared to the Black Summer fires in 2019-20 that burned through 104 thousand square kilometers, and destroyed thousands of homes and killed 33 people.