Resolute Forest Products, a subsidiary of Domtar and a part of the Paper Excellence Group, has signed a deal to sell its pulp and paper mill in Thunder Bay, Ont., to an affiliate of U.S. company Atlas Holdings. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available. The sale of the mill is a requirement under an agreement between Domtar and the Competition Bureau in connection to the company’s acquisition of Resolute, which will continue to operate its sawmills and woodlands operations in northwestern Ontario. Resolute says once the sale of the mill is complete it expects to enter into a long-term wood chip and biomass supply deal that will see it continue to provide chips and biomass to the operation. The agreement is expected to close in the second half of the year. …Paper Excellence completed its acquisition of Resolute through its Domtar subsidiary on March 1.
RUSSIA — According to recent data from Roslesinforg, foreign sales of Russian timber have continued to decline in the first quarter of 2023, dropping by over 20 percent to 4.5 million cubic meters, primarily due to EU sanctions imposed on Russia following its military operation in Ukraine. …The latest data reveals a continued decline in foreign sales of Russian timber, mainly attributed to the EU sanctions imposed on Russia following its military operation in Ukraine. The EU had been a major market for Russian timber, but the embargo led to a complete halt in sales. Additionally, other countries such as the United States, Japan, and South Korea also reduced their imports of Russian wood products during the first quarter of 2023. This ongoing decline in foreign sales poses challenges for Russia’s timber industry and its export sector as a whole.
This week in Paris, negotiators from around the world are convening for a United Nations meeting …to find a globally binding solution for plastic pollution. …Governments and industry are introducing rules and incentives to help businesses stop using single-use plastics while also encouraging collection and recycling. …In Australia, plastic is largely “downcycled”, which means it is recycled into lower quality plastics. This can seem like an attractive way to deal with waste-plastic stockpiles… but downcycling risks doing more harm than good: 1. Replacing wood with recycled plastics risks contaminating our wildest natural spaces; 2. Taking circular plastics from their closed loop to meet recycled-content targets creates more waste; and 3. Using “compostable” plastics in non-compostable conditions creates still more plastic pollution. At the right temperature with the right amount of moisture, compostable plastics breakdown into soil. But if the conditions are not “just right”, they won’t break down at all.
Oregon could see a much hotter July and August as the region shifts to an El Nino weather pattern later this year. State researchers predict Oregon could experience a much warmer summer than previous years as the climate shifts to a warmer pattern later this year. But a cooler and wet spring could lead fire season to run longer throughout the year. Oregon State University researchers recently predicted the state could see a much hotter July and August as the shift from La Niña to El Niño weather patterns begin this year. The shift from La Niña, a naturally occurring cooler weather pattern associated with ocean temperatures an the equator, to El Niño, its warmer counterpart, already has shown signs of its emergence. …Over the past decade, Oregon summers have already been warmer and drier due to climate change, according to O’Neill, and those trends are expected to continue. 
The statement from the most recent Group of Seven meeting in Japan… [includes] a long section on climate change, and the urgency of lowering global emissions. As there should be. …When it comes to greenhouse gases, the G7′s contribution is surprisingly small and shrinking. …Despite a growing population and a sharp rise in oil output in the early 2000s, Canada’s carbon emissions have fallen from 2.2 per cent of the planet’s output at the start of the century to just 1.5 per cent today. …China is now the biggest polluter, by far. Its emissions more than doubled between 2002 and 2010, as Canada’s flatlined. …India’s emissions, barely higher than Canada’s in 1990, now equal those of the EU. Indonesia, whose emissions were a third of Canada’s in 1990, is now a bigger polluter than us. The cause? Skyrocketing demand for electricity, with most of that new demand met with coal. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]
The Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) was in Atikokan last week, standing with the Hon. Graydon Smith, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, who announced the creation of a new $19.6 million Forest Biomass Program. The new program will support implementation of Ontario’s Forest Sector Strategy and Forest Biomass Action Plan. “Increased use of biomass will assist Ontario’s transition to a net-zero economy, reduce pressure on landfills, support the ongoing sustainable management of Ontario’s public forests, improve industry competitiveness, and strengthen the circular bioeconomy,” said OFIA’s President and CEO, Ian Dunn. Forest biomass electrical generating facilities are integral to Ontario’s forest sector and sustainable management framework. These facilities provide clean, green electricity and energy while benefiting forest operations, regional industrial clusters, and the environment. 
TIMMINS, Ontario — There were five new forest fires, including one near Timmins, reported across the region, as of early Sunday evening. Timmins 5, located 15 kilometres east of Highway 144 just south of Mamie Lake, was confirmed on Sunday and is listed as “not under control,” and was two hectares. Cochrane 1, also confirmed Sunday afternoon, is currently listed at 45 hectare fire and is “being observed.” Three other new fires were confirmed on Sunday, as well. Sudbury 4 is located 1.5 kilometres east of Highway 69, 0.5 kilometers north of Round Lake. It is listed as 1.5 hectares and it is “not under control.” Algonquin Park 2 is located on the north shore of Whitefish Lake. It is 0.1 hectares and is “not under control.” Parry Sound 5 is located six kilometres east of Highway 69 and three kilometers south of Cantin Lake. 0.1 hectares and is “not under control.”
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Raging wildfires that have burned through thousands of acres have forced more than 16,000 Canadians to evacuate their homes and triggered a burn ban in Nova Scotia, as the region experiences record-breaking heat. Officials say the fires, which span a total of more than 25,000 acres and have been deemed “out of control” by officials, have destroyed multiple buildings and caused huge plumes of smoke to tower over the region. As of Monday, more than 16,000 people were forced to evacuate the area around Halifax, Nova Scotia’s largest city. The number of people who have been forced from their homes is about 16,429, Erica Fleck, Division Chief of Emergency Management of the Halifax Regional Municipality, said in a news conference Monday. The blazes have damaged at least 200 homes or structures, the Halifax municipality said, citing first responders’ initial visual inspections.
A forest fire that forced hundreds of evacuations and destroyed a home in southwest New Brunswick remained out of control on Monday afternoon, though officials said they were hopeful things would soon change. The fire raging near the towns of Bocabec and Chamcook was being pummelled from above by seven water bombers, while crews from 13 different fire departments in the region attacked the flames from the ground, said Kevin Theriault, chief of the fire department in Saint Andrews, N.B. The flames had stopped spreading upwards into the trees, and were instead smouldering close to the ground, he said. Crews hoped to have the fires under control later on Monday or some time on Tuesday, Theriault told reporters, adding: “But this will be a long, drawn-out firefight for everybody for hot spots.” New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said … the province had seen an “unprecedented” number of fires so far this year.