European Union bioeconomy strategy must embrace wood supply growth, say Nordic forestry chiefs

Bioenergy Insight
March 17, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Two of Sweden’s largest forest companies have called on the European Union to revise its bioeconomy strategy to include a stronger commitment to expanding sustainable wood supply, warning that current policy signals risk undermining Europe’s green transition goals. In a joint statement published this week, the chief executives of SCA and Holmen argued that the EU Commission’s updated bioeconomy strategy — released last November — underestimates both the economic weight of the wood-based sector and the primary biomass volumes needed to meet its own ambitions. The two executives estimated that wood-based value chains account for around seven per cent of total EU economic value and support approximately 17 million jobs across the continent — figures they said the strategy fails to capture by focusing narrowly on upstream production. The Commission’s own figure of roughly €240 billion in added value and fewer than three million jobs, they argued, represents less than a quarter of the sector’s true contribution.

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