Region Archives: International

Business & Politics

US tariffs draw dismay and calls for talks from countries around the globe

By Elaine Kurtenbach and David McHugh
The Associated Press
April 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, United States, International

Sweeping new tariffs announced by Donald Trump provoked dismay, threats of countermeasures and urgent calls for talks to find ways to rescind the stiff new import taxes imposed on goods from countries around the globe. …Trump maintains they will draw factories and jobs back to the United States. …European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a “major blow to the world economy.” …British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said he hopes to get the tariffs lifted with a trade deal. …Financial markets were jolted. …China’s Commerce Ministry said Beijing would “resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests,” without saying exactly what it might do. …Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would wait to see how Trump’s announcement will affect Mexico, which like Canada was spared for goods already qualified under their free trade agreement with the United States, though previously announced 25% tariffs on auto imports took effect Thursday.

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New tariff pressures spark structural shift in Vietnam’s timber sector

By Nguyen Thu
Vietnam Investment Review
April 10, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

Wood and wood products are among Vietnam’s top export sectors to the United States. Last year, the export value of Vietnamese wood products to this market exceeded $9 billion, accounting for 38%–40% of the total US import volume for this product group, according to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association. This positions the industry as one of the nation’s top contributors to its trade surplus. In contrast, Vietnam imports only about $323 million worth of timber from the US annually, of which approximately $300 million consists of raw materials such as oak and ash. These are processed domestically into finished goods and re-exported, often back to the US market. Notably, Vietnam is now the second-largest importer of US timber globally, as the US continues its search for stable export destinations. …Vietnam’s decision to waive import duties on timber shipments from the US, is an act demonstrating the country’s cooperative intent.

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Stock markets tumble again as China announces 84% tariffs on the US

By the Associated Press and Reuters
April 9, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

Asian and European shares slid on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipping more than 5%, as the latest set of US tariffs including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports took effect. China announced countermeasures, saying it will raise its retaliatory tariff on the US to 84%, up from 34%, effective April 10. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 3.9% lower. …China has again vowed to “fight to the end,” raising tariffs on American goods to 84% to match Trump’s addition of a 50% tariff, while adding an array of additional countermeasures Wednesday. The 84% tariff will go into effect Thursday, and comes as a 104% tax on the country’s exports to the US came into effect. “If the US insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end” the Ministry of Commerce wrote. …Futures point to more losses for US stock markets.

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Trump’s tariffs prompt China to retaliate with 34% levy on US imports

CBS News
April 4, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, International

BEIJING — China announced that it will impose a 34% tariff on imports of all U.S. products beginning April 10. The new tariff matches the rate of the US tariff announced by President Trump this week. The White House used a formula to calculate the sum of all the trade practices it deems unfair from other nations. Economists have questioned the methodology, and many foreign governments have complained the levies misrepresent their trade imbalances. …The Chinese government said it would add 27 U.S. companies to lists of firms subject to trade sanctions or export controls. According to China’s tightly controlled media, the expanded export controls would cover seven types of rare earth related items, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium.

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International Paper to Divest Five European Corrugated Box Plants

PR Newswire
April 14, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

International Paper (“IP”) today announced that the company has entered into exclusive negotiations with PALM Group of Germany after receiving an irrevocable offer for the purchase of five corrugated box plants in Europe: (i) three plants in Normandy, France (namely, one box plant in Saint-Amand, one box plant in Mortagne, and one sheet plant in Cabourg); (ii) one box plant in Ovar, Portugal; and (iii) one box plant in Bilbao, Spain. Upon completion of the required French works council consultation and/or employee information processes, the parties expect to enter into a definitive share purchase agreement. The closing is expected by the end of the second quarter of 2025.

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US tariffs may tighten Vietnam’s wood pellet supply

By Nadhir Mokhtar
Argus Media
April 9, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Tariffs imposed on Vietnamese wood furniture exports to the US could pressure furniture production and tighten supply of byproducts, which are used to produce wood pellets in Vietnam. US president Donald Trump announced tariffs on nearly all US trading partners on 2 April, which took effect on 5 April… This means a sharp 46pc tariff has taken effect on Vietnamese exports, including wood products from the southeast Asian country. This could weaken US demand for Vietnamese wooden products, which could result in an overall cut in furniture production. Vietnam exported 53,000t of wooden furniture to the US in 2024, from 37,000t a year earlier, mirrored US customs data on furniture exports show. This accounted for nearly 12pc of Vietnam’s overall wooden furniture exports last year. A drop in Vietnamese furniture exports and manufacturing would result in less process residues — such as sawdust and wood chips — made available for pellet producers. 

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New Tariffs, But Not On Timber And Lumber

By New Zealand Wood Products Manufacturers Association
Scoop Independent News
April 3, 2025
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

NEW ZEALAND — The temporary exemption of tariffs on timber and lumber imported into the US provides some relief to New Zealand exporters. Though this exemption could be short lived based on the outcome of the Section 232 investigation aimed at determining the effects imports of timber, lumber and their derivative products have on the US supply chain. Exports of radiata pine products from New Zealand to the US were estimated at $358 million, making the US our third largest export market behind China and Australia. …The exemption comes about through internal US lobbying, by the likes of the American Building Materials Alliance and National Association of Home Builders.  …The administration has recognised that raising costs on timber and lumber would hurt housing affordability and weaken an important supply chain. …We thank our kindred Associations in the US for making this happen. We now wait for completion of the s. 232 investigation.

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Finance & Economics

European pulp and paper industry weighs impact of US tariffs

By Sharon Levrez
RISI Fastmarkets
April 11, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

The European pulp and paper industry is struggling to assess the possible impact of tariffs. …Europe has a marginally negative trade balance with the US for pulp and paper. In 2024, it imported 2.6 million tonnes of P&P from the US. In the same year, it exported 2.3 million tonnes of P&P to the country. The largest trade deficits appear to be around pulp (-975,000 tonnes) and containerboard (-310,000 tonnes, mostly kraftliner). On the other hand, Europe has a surplus in graphic paper and cartonboard sales. …“The only certainty we have is that there will be negative consequences for businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. Trade wars are always detrimental for consumers, but we are a ‘made in Europe’ industry, with local capacities to meet the European demand,” he added. …Most market participants believe the stuttering trade war initiated by Trump will further hurt the already stagnating European economy.

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Swedish forest industry calls US tariffs regrettable as pulp and paper exports face 10% duty

Lesprom Network
April 8, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

The Swedish Forest Industries Federation expresses concern over newly imposed US tariffs on pulp, paper, and board imports from the EU, which took effect on April 5 at 10% and are scheduled to double to 20% by April 2025. The federation emphasizes that free trade is critical to the Swedish forest industry, which is heavily export-oriented, with 5–10% of its exports directed to the United States. Europe remains its largest market, accounting for around 60%. …The federation’s CEO, Viveka Beckeman, highlights that the sector depends on international demand. While timber has been excluded from the latest round of tariffs, it remains under review in an ongoing US investigation that may lead to import duties as early as November 2025. The industry, which employs approximately 140,000 people in Sweden either directly or indirectly, represents 9–12% of the country’s industrial employment, export, turnover, and added value. 

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US emerges as biggest loser in markets from Trump’s tariffs

By Richard Henderson and Sagarika Jaisinghani
BNN Bloomberg
April 3, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, International

US President Trump’s shake-up of the global trading system is hurting US assets more than those in many of the big economies he has just slapped with additional tariffs. US equity index futures tumbled more than 4% after Trump announced a sweeping series of tariffs, and a gauge of the US dollar slumped. But the impact elsewhere was less extreme. The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 1.9%, while the euro was up 2.2% against the US dollar, hitting its highest level since October. A broad gauge of Asian stocks fell as much as 1.7%. The widespread selloff in global markets makes clear that investors don’t expect any winners from the latest — and by the far the largest — salvo in a growing trade war. But they also suggest the US itself might be one of the biggest victims of Trump’s protectionist policies. …Overall, the US dollar headed for its worst day in over two years.

Related in NPR: Dow drops 1,500 points on trade war fears over new tariffs

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Australia’s Wood & Wood Products Trade With USA

Forest & Wood Products Australia
April 13, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

This analysis seeks to provide an understanding of Australia’s wood products trade with the USA. …In calendar year 2024, Australia operated a trade deficit for wood and wood products with the USA, valued at AUD84.2 million. That is, Australia exported wood and wood products valued at AUD9.0 million, while imports from the USA were valued at AUD93.2 million. That balance of trade deficit was the lowest in many years. Imports from the USA accounted for 3.5% of total wood and wood products imports by value. The USA was the fifth largest supplier to Australia, with total imports valued at AUD2.657 billion. Exports to the USA accounted for just 0.5% of total wood and wood products exports by value. The USA received the ninth highest value of Australian products, which in aggregate were valued at AUD1.639 billion, dominated by woodchip exports.

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Brussels eyes 25% tariffs in response to Trump

By Camille Gijs and Giovanna Coi
Politico EU
April 8, 2025
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

The European Commission is considering slapping tariffs of up to 25% on a broad range of exports from the US in response to tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum by US President Donald Trump, according to an internal Commission document. The EU executive wants to impose a 25% duty on a wide range of U.S. exports, including soybeans, sweet corn, rice, almonds, orange juice, cranberries, tobacco, iron, steel, aluminum, certain boats and vehicles, textiles and certain clothes, and various types of makeup. The total amount of US exports hit by the tariffs is €22.1 billion based on the EU’s 2024 imports, according to public Eurostat figures, falling short of the Commission’s estimates of hitting €26 billion to “mirror” the damage from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs. …EU capitals will vote on the countermeasures on Wednesday. If they go through, most of the tariffs are expected to take effect May 16.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Wood Protection Association Conference to focus on future of treated wood

By Stephen Powney
The Timber Trades Journal
April 11, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

This year’s Wood Protection Association (WPA) Annual Awards and Conference is themed Future-Proofing Demand for Correctly Treated Wood. The half-day conference will take place on May 8 in Leeds in conjunction with the WPA’s 2025 Awards. Among the conference speakers will be Paul Pennick, procurement director, h&b Buying Group, who will cover “What supply chain buyers want from the treated wood industry”. Mr Pennick believes the market potential for preservative-treated wood is strong. The Government’s ambitious infrastructure, homebuilding, and carbon reduction plans align with the benefits of treated wood. …Another topic will be the role of builders’ merchants in treated wood sales. …Ed Suttie, head of consultancy, BRE, will focus on “Changing service life and performance data for treated wood”. The emerging requirement for the declaration of Reference Service Life under the new Construction Products Regulation has sparked a reassessment of how service life is determined and communicated. 

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Goodbye Soggy Straws? Transparent Biodegradable Paper Material Can Handle Even Hot Water

By Dr. Alfredo Carpineti
IFLScience
April 9, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Every year, over 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced. About five percent of that ends up in rivers and eventually the sea, or is thrown directly into the ocean by the fishing industry. Plastic, whether it breaks down into microplastic or not, is an unfolding environmental and health catastrophe that affects the whole planet. Many solutions have been proposed and researchers have now showcased a new material that looks and acts like plastic without the impact. The team is calling it transparent paperboard (tPB). The material is made completely of cellulose and its composition is equal to that of regular paper. The starting point is using regenerated cellulose from plants and wood (but not exclusively as they have demonstrated) and creating a hydrogel that can be shaped and is transparent.

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International Softwood Conference 2025 to be hosted in Norway

The Timber Trades Journal
April 8, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

This year’s International Softwood Conference (ISC) will take place on October 22-24 in Oslo, Norway. The popular event, which provides valuable information on international softwood markets, will be hosted by the Norwegian Wood Industry Federation (Treindustrien), in collaboration with the European Timber Trade Federation (ETTF) and the European Organisation of the Sawmill Industry (EOS). The conference itself will be on October 23 at the Clarion Hotel Oslo, in the heart of the city centre. …The conference provides an opportunity to thoroughly examine trends in the timber market, focusing on facts and figures for softwood production and consumption in the most relevant countries worldwide – not just in Europe. Before the conference, on October 22, there will be five different study tours, including the production line at Bergene Holm Haslestad… and the wood paint factory at G3 Gausdal Treindustrier.

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French school demonstrates multiple benefits of wood-concrete panels

By John Bleasby
The Daily Commercial News
April 9, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

An educational complex in France has become a showcase for an increasingly popular prefabricated building technique. Work began in May 2024 on the €80 million (CDN$125 million) 14,500 m2 school facility in the City of Sartrouville, northwest of Paris. Final project delivery is scheduled for November 2026. …From the outset, the objective was to create a facility with a reduced carbon footprint in order to achieve what in France is called Level 3 “Bâtiment biosourcé” (Biosourced Building). This requires certain minimum percentages of bio-based material per square metre of floor area. The designers took a unique approach to material selection, opting for 7,000 m² of load-bearing exterior wall panels made of wood-concrete, representing 75 per cent of the flat exterior surfaces. Wood-concrete is made from a mixture of water and wood aggregates, sourced mainly from PEFC-certified French forest operators, which is then combined with cement.

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French company unveils new wooden PV carports, charging stations

By Francois Puthod
Photovoltaics PV Magazine
April 7, 2025
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

France-based EV charging station provider Rossini Energy has started selling PV carports and EV charging stations made with wood. “We started by manufacturing 22 kW charging stations with Douglas fir wood, sourced from French forests, rot-proof and renowned for its durability. We then combined our offering with photovoltaic car park canopies, which we now integrate almost automatically,” CEO Luca Rossini told pv magazine France.”They are two inseparable sides of the same coin. They go together perfectly.” Simon Chouvellon, Rossini Energy business manager, claimed that by choosing wood rather than steel for a 10-person shade structure, the company avoids 10 tons of CO2 emissions, which is equivalent to the carbon emissions of an average French individual for more than a year.

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Forestry

Amendment to Peru law raises fears of Amazon rainforest destruction

By Steven Grattan
Associated Press
April 15, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

BOGOTA, Colombia — A recent amendment to Peru’s Forestry and Wildlife Law is drawing fierce backlash from environmental groups and Indigenous groups that warn it could accelerate deforestation in the Amazon rainforest under the guise of economic development. The amendment eliminates the requirement that landowners or companies get state authorization before converting forested land to other uses. Critics say the change could legitimize years of illegal deforestation. “To us, this is gravely concerning,” said Alvaro Masquez Salvador, a lawyer with the Indigenous Peoples program at Peru’s Legal Defense Institute. Masquez added that the reform sets a troubling precedent by “effectively privatizing” land that Peru’s constitution defines as national patrimony. “Forests are not private property—they belong to the nation,” he said. Supporters of the amendment, enacted in March, say it will stabilize Peru’s agricultural sector and provide farmers with greater legal certainty.

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The Australian Forest Products Association welcomes Federal Labor’s $24 million election commitment

Australia Forest Products Association
April 14, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) welcomes Federal Labor’s $24 million election commitment for the Boyer Paper Mill in Tasmania. This funding will help the facility transition the energy source for its boiler infrastructure from coal to electricity along with other essential measures. The commitment also highlights the extreme pressures the forest products sector’s manufacturing operations are under nationally, Chief Executive Officer of AFPA, Diana Hallam said today. “We welcome Federal Labor’s commitment to the Boyer Mill – $9 million in upfront support over the next two years and $15 million to deliver mill upgrades over the longer-term. The facility is a critical forest industry employer in southern Tasmania and Australia’s last local supplier of many publication paper products. We must however stress that forestry and forest products is a $24 billion industry, Australia’s 6th largest manufacturing sector and our timber and wood-fibre manufacturing facilities across the country are struggling with rising energy costs,” Diana Hallam said.

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New trial against polyphagous shot-hole borer achieves early success

By Ashleigh Davis and Kate Leaver
ABC News Australia
April 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Just four months into a new chemical trial, the City of Canning believes it has found a way to combat the polyphagous shot-hole borer. In the trial, 131 infested trees were injected with a small vitamin-like capsule containing insecticide and fungicide, and are now showing no signs of live beetles or larvae. The tiny invasive tree-killing pest was detected in 2021 and has since led to the destruction of more than 4,000 trees in the Perth metropolitan area as the state government follows an elimination strategy. …City of Canning Mayor Patrick Hall said the method did not pose a risk to wildlife, as the trees absorbed the capsule. “The insecticide is a very small dose, injected deep into the tree, and then we put a plug behind it to make sure it can’t leach out. And that traps the insecticide inside the tree — that then goes up the vascular system.”

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Dr. Gerald Tuskan is awarded the 2025 Marcus Wallenberg Prize for his pioneering work in sequencing and analyzing the first tree genome

The Marcus Wallenberg Foundation
April 11, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Gerald Tuskan

Dr. Gerald Tuskan is awarded the 2025 Marcus Wallenberg Prize for his pioneering work in sequencing and analyzing the first tree genome. His leadership in this project has revolutionized research in tree and forest genomics and biotechnology, paving the way for genome-based breeding of commercially important trees. Dr. Tuskan led the project to sequence the genome of the black cottonwood tree (Populus trichocarpa), which was published in 2006. This was the third plant genome to be sequenced… His work formed the basis for extensive molecular genetic studies of the Populus genus, generating new discoveries in wood biology and tree phenology. This project has laid the foundation for many other tree genome sequencing projects, including conifers such as Norway spruce and loblolly pine, as well as the important plantation tree eucalyptus. Tuskan is the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Department of Energy Center for Bioenergy Innovation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

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Forestry industry fears for future as drought hits pine plantations in South Australia and Victoria

By Elsie Adamo and Sam Bradbrook
ABC News
April 10, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Representatives of one of Australia’s largest forestry regions say prolonged drought conditions are killing pine trees and increasing disease risks, threatening long-term timber growth. The Green Triangle region consists of around 334,000 hectares of pine plantations in south-east South Australia and south-west Victoria. Parts of the region are in drought and experiencing their driest weather on record, which industry representatives say is now taking its toll. Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub general manager Tony Wright said forestry pine plantations were planted on a 30-year rotation. He said the current drought damage had stunted tree growth, which was unable to be recovered throughout the trees’ life cycle. “An impact on growth in any particular year will affect the yield at the end of that rotation and that then will affect the supply chain.”

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Conservation group cleared to take legal action against NSW Forestry Corp

By Patrick Bell
ABC News, Australia
April 9, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

The High Court has cleared the way for a conservation group to proceed with a civil case against the Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) over its biodiversity assessment of of areas of native forest logging in NSW. The South East Forest Rescue group (SEFR) alleged the corporation did not conduct a broad area habitat search for features of habitat for three species of glider, two of which are regarded as vulnerable, and another as endangered. …The corporation’s sole ground of appeal was an argument that private people or entities could not launch a case to enforce the duties of a forestry approval. But the High Court has ruled that, for such persons to be prevented from launching a case, there needs to be “a clear and unmistakable” intention to do so in the legislation, which does not exist.

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Brazil is speeding-up forest fire prevention to avoid dangerous tipping points in the Amazon

By Robert Muggah and Ilona Szabo
Mongabay
April 6, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Brazil is facing an alarming surge in forest fires. Last year, the country registered 237,000 fires and over 30.8 million hectares of vegetation were consumed by flames—an area the size of Italy. This represented a 79% increase in areas burned compared to 2023. The Amazon rainforest bore the brunt, accounting for 58% of the total burned area. The threat of more fires during the 2025 fire season prompted the Brazilian government to declare a nationwide environmental emergency. Early this year, the Supreme Court ordered the federal government and all Amazon and Pantanal states to draw-up emergency fire management plans. …Brazilian authorities have taken steps to slow the spread of forest fires, albeit with mixed results. On the one hand, the government has reinforced zero deforestation policies through initiatives such as supporting firefighters and financing fire-fighting equipment via the Amazon Fund and Operation “Guardiões do Bioma“, which focus on combating illegal deforestation and environmental crimes.

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FSC is extending the suspension of the Asia Pulp and Paper MoU

Forest Stewardship Council
April 4, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: International

FSC is extending the suspension of the Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of the FSC Remedy Framework until the end of June 2025. The extension of the suspension is due to a conflict of interest identified between Domtar and the law firm FSC identified for conducting the legal review of APP and Domtar’s corporate groups. FSC is identifying a different independent, third-party law firm to conduct this legal review. In January 2025, FSC suspended APP’s remedy MoU until the end of March 2025 because of the changes APP and Domtar announced regarding the concentration of sole beneficial ownership of the two corporate groups. FSC is commissioning a legal review of the corporate groups of Domtar and APP to better understand the implications and the effect of this change, and any impacts on the scope of the APP remedy process and the MoU. FSC disassociated from APP’s entire corporate group in 2007. 

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

US exits carbon talks on shipping, urges others to follow

By Jonathan Saul, Michelle Nichols and Kate Abnett
Reuters
April 9, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, International

LONDON – The United States has withdrawn from talks in London looking at advancing decarbonisation in the shipping sector and Washington will consider “reciprocal measures” to offset any fees charged to U.S. ships, a diplomatic note said. Delegates are at the UN shipping agency’s headquarters this week for negotiations over decarbonisation measures, aimed at enabling the global shipping industry to reach net zero by “around 2050″. …”The U.S. rejects any and all efforts to impose economic measures against its ships based on GHG emissions or fuel choice,” according to a diplomatic demarche sent to ambassadors by the United States. …”Should such a blatantly unfair measure go forward, our government will consider reciprocal measures so as to offset any fees charged to U.S. ships and compensate the American people for any other economic harm from any adopted GHG emissions measures,” the note from Washington said.

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All you need to know about the space mission spotting forests

BBC News
April 7, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to launch its newest space satellite later this month, called Biomass. Its five-year mission is to provide detailed 3D maps of the world’s most dense and remote tropical forests. Using instruments on board, it will be able to measure the woody trunks, branches and stems of the trees. The hope is that the data it collects will help experts better understand the state of our forests and how they are changing. Biomass is the first space satellite to carry a long wavelength radar, called P-band. This special radar means that it can scan deep through the forest canopy and collect information on different parts of the forest, such as tree trunks, branches and stems, where trees store most of their carbon… If all goes well, it is due to take off on 29 April.

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Tropical bounty: How forests can turn into chemical factories

By Chris Woolston
The Ampersand
April 14, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

A new study led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and the Missouri Botanical Garden has uncovered a surprising layer of diversity in tropical forests. Not only are the forests populated by a dizzying number of tree species, but each of those species takes a different approach to chemistry, increasing the array of natural compounds that provide important functions for the plants — and potentially for humans. The research helped clarify the ecological and evolutionary forces that make tropical forests such hotbeds of biodiversity. While the team wasn’t specifically looking for compounds that could be useful for humans, their findings underscore the value of tropical forests as natural factories of plant chemicals that could have important uses in medicine and other fields, said Jonathan Myers, a professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at WashU. “Tropical plants produce a huge diversity of chemicals that have practical implications for human health.”

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Pindstrup Announces New Wood Fiber Plant Opening in Denmark

Greenhouse Grower
April 9, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Last week, Pindstrup – a global supplier of growing media for the horticultural industry – opened a wood fiber plant at its factory in Kongerslev, Denmark. This €4 million investment marks a significant step in Pindstrup’s transition towards a more sustainable future. The company is actively working to reduce the CO2 footprint of its growing media by replacing peat with renewable and circular raw materials. CEO René Gjerding says, “For decades, Pindstrup has incorporated wood fiber into its growing media and has been producing it at our factories in Northern Ireland and Latvia. We are pleased to now bring wood fiber production to our factory in Denmark, using locally sourced, PEFC-certified wood chips. The plant runs on renewable energy, further reducing our CO2 footprint.”

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Papua New Guinea lifts ban on forest carbon credits

Associated Free Press in France24
April 9, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The island of New Guinea is cloaked in the world’s third-largest rainforest belt, helping the planet breathe by sucking in carbon dioxide gas and turning it into oxygen. Foreign companies have in recent years snapped up tracts of forest in an attempt to sell carbon credits, pledging to protect trees that would otherwise fall prey to logging or land clearing. But a string of mismanagement scandals forced Papua New Guinea to temporarily shut down this “voluntary” carbon market in March 2022. Environment Minister Simo Kilepa told AFP that, with new safeguards now in place, this three-year moratorium would “be lifted immediately”. “Papua New Guinea is uplifting the moratorium on voluntary carbon markets,” Kilepa said.

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Forest owners caution against removal of climate change tools

New Zealand Forest Owners Association
April 9, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released its report, Alt-F Reset: Examining the drivers of forestry in New Zealandlooking at the economic and environmental impacts of forestry. New Zealand Forest Owners Association chief executive Dr Elizabeth Heeg says the report raises important considerations for land use adaptation in a changing climate but that some of its recommendations would be counter intuitive to progressing climate action. “Climate action is urgently needed and as it stands, there is a question mark over New Zealand meeting its 2050 emissions targets,” Elizabeth says. “Forestry remains at the centre of any future success so it makes no sense to limit the tools we do have available. “Pulling back from the ETS without a tangible, alternative approach is risky at best.” Forest owners are also concerned about the pressure that removal of forestry offsets from the ETS would place on operators, particularly farmers and woodlot owners.

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Is Bolivia’s $1.2 Billion Deal to Protect Its Forests a Climate Boon—or a False Solution?

By Nicholas Kusnetz
Inside Climate News
April 8, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Sometime next month, the Bolivian government and a company you probably haven’t heard of are poised to offer what could be the largest single sale of carbon credits in history. The deal will be unusual not only for its size—$1.2 billion, organizers said—but also because it will be backed by a national government and packaged under new rules developed as part of the Paris Agreement. Depending on who you ask, the sale could mark a new frontier in global climate finance, the latest offering in a long and dubious line of carbon credits or, potentially, a giant escalation in corporate greenwashing… “I don’t think a lot of people even in the climate world quite appreciate how much volume and activity may be emerging quickly from this new area,” said Danny Cullenward, an economist and lawyer focused on the scientific integrity of climate policy.

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Corgan offers a tool to measure mass timber’s real production carbon footprint

By John Caulfield
Building Design and Construction Network
April 7, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Global demand for wood as a building material is expected to quadruple by 2050. Demand is being driven in part by the rising popularity of mass timber for its aesthetics and eco friendliness. One of the perceived advantages of choosing mass timber panels and components for construction and renovation is their lower production-related greenhouse gas emissions vis-a-vis conventional wood products and other building materials like steel or concrete. But the notion that producing mass timber is carbon neutral—one of its key selling points for developers and AEC firms looking to reduce a project’s carbon footprint—has come under greater scrutiny, and has led one firm, Corgan, to develop a tool that calculates CO2 from mass timber, including the harvesting and transporting processes that, according to a recent paper published by Nature, could add between 3.5 billion and 4.2 billion metric tons of GHG emissions annually to the atmosphere by 2050, the equivalent of roughly 10% of recent CO2 emissions.

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Renewable carbon needs smarter policy to boost European Union’s circular future

By Anna Gumbau
Eurativ.com
April 2, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

As the EU pushes to meet its climate neutrality targets by 2050, the concept of ‘renewable carbon’ is rising fast in both policy and industry circles. Unlike fossil carbon, which is extracted from underground and released into the atmosphere during production and consumption, renewable carbon comes from above-ground sources, biomass, recycled materials, and captured CO2. In short, it’s carbon that is already part of the ongoing carbon cycle. “Renewable carbon is not just about replacing fossil-based materials: it’s about rethinking how we design, use, and reuse resources across industries,” said Michael Carus, managing director of the Germany-based Nova Institute during a recent event hosted by EURACTIV and Metsä Group. This kind of thinking is gaining traction among companies looking to green their supply chains. Wood-based products, for instance, have a unique potential to store carbon for long periods when used in construction or durable goods, making them a crucial component of a low-carbon, circular economy.

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The Crucial Role of Forests

By Charlie King
Sustainability Magazine
April 1, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Forests play a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth, covering 31% of the planet’s land and supporting 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. They provide essential raw materials for everyday products and protect soil, water and climate systems. However, these vital ecosystems face severe threats from the global climate and biodiversity crises. Sustainable forest stewardship offers a beacon of hope in addressing these challenges. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is leading the charge in sustainable forestry, offering a credible solution trusted by NGOs, consumers and businesses worldwide. With more than 150 million hectares of certified forests, FSC is at the forefront of promoting healthy and resilient forests for all. The nonprofit organization provides a framework for responsible forest management, balancing environmental, social and economic perspectives. FSC’s standards and certification process help forest managers, smallholders and governments ensure thriving forest ecosystems while safeguarding the livelihoods of forest communities.

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Butterfly populations are declining. Meet the people moving a forest to save them

CBC Radio
March 28, 2025
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

A new study is bringing hard data to understand how butterfly numbers have declined steeply in recent years, due to the combination of habitat loss, climate change, and pesticide exposure. A group of scientists is hoping to fix at least one of these problems for one species, by moving an entire forest in Mexico. The sacred fir trees, where monarch butterflies spend their winters, are struggling under climate change. Recently a team of researchers planted a thousand sacred fir trees at a new location at higher elevations to kickstart a new, future-proof forest for the butterflies to overwinter. Quirks producer Amanda Buckiewicz spoke to Cuauhtémoc Saénz Romero, a forest geneticist at the University of Michoacán in Mexico, and Greg O’Neill, a climate change adaptation scientist with the BC Provincial Government in the Ministry of Forests.

[This is an episode segment of Quirks and Quarks, on CBC Listen]

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Forest Fires

How South Korea’s largest and deadliest wildfire spread

By Heejung Jung and Vijdan Mohammad Kawoosa
Reuters
April 9, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

The wildfires in North Gyeongsang province began in Uiseong county before spreading 70 km (44 miles) east, to devastate an area equivalent to about two-thirds of the island of Singapore and much larger than the Los Angeles fires in January. “Strong, dry winds blew from the west. The wind had the biggest impact,” said Lim Sang-seop, the minister of the Korea Forest Service, adding that smoke and fog reduced visibility this week, presenting a bigger challenge to helicopters seeking to douse the flames. Experts have said the spread of the Uiseong fire was extremely unusual in terms of scale and speed, while climate change is expected to make wildfires more frequent and deadly globally.

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Crews ‘on their knees’ as fire rages for third day

By Charlie Buckland
BBC News
April 8, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

Firefighters have spent a third day battling a mountain blaze that has spread across an area the size of 4,000 football pitches. The cause of the wildfire in Cwm Rheidol, Ceredigion, remains unknown but the fire service in Aberystwyth said it was dealing with a high volume of calls. Emyr Jones, station commander at Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said crews had been called to three different fire fronts on Tuesday afternoon, with a helicopter and drones being used to tackle the flames. Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Rhodri Davies, councillor for Rheidol Valley, said the fire crew were “on their knees” and it was “very scary”. …Mr Jones said the situation with the mountain fires above Strata Florida near Tregaron was changing all the time and was challenging for crews due to the environment, travel and water supply.

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Firefighters tackle wildfire spreading over large forest area in Scotland

By Nadeem Badshah
The Guardian
April 5, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

Firefighters are dealing with a wild blaze that has spread over a large area of forest in Scotland with police urging people to stay away from the area. Emergency services were called to Glentrool in Galloway, southern Scotland, at about 11.50pm on Friday with fire crews still on the scene on Saturday afternoon. …Helicopters are being used in efforts to extinguish the flames which have also affected Merrick Hill, Ben Yellary and Loch Dee, police said. One appliance from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is at the scene. Another wildfire had been reported in around the same area on Thursday and covered about 1.5 miles (2.4km). …This year has seen 286 wildfires hit the UK, according to the NFCC, more than 100 above the number recorded in the same period in 2022, a year that had record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfire activity.

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Ecosystem could take century to recover from devastation of wildfires

By Lee Si-jin
The Korea Herald
March 31, 2025
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

The deadly wildfires in southeastern South Korea have been brought under control, but it could take 100 years for the ecosystem in the area affected by the wildfires to recover, according to forestry researchers. Multiple reports on large wildfires — including a March 2025 report by the National Institute of Forest Science — emphasize that it requires over 30 years for structural recovery and up to 100 years for full ecological stabilization. While the recovery varies by the type of living organisms — ranging from fish, marine invertebrates to insects, trees require decades to regrow and forest animals depend on sufficient habitat recovery. Soil restoration takes longer due to complex ecological processes… Meanwhile, the North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency conducted its first on-site joint investigation in a wooded area in Goesan-ri, Anpyeong-myeon, Uiseong-gun.

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