Canada’s largest ports were shut down due to labour disruptions, so Ottawa announced binding arbitration. In Company news: financial updates from Drax, Koppers; and Taiga Forest Products; and Weyerhaeuser has a new Chief Development Officer. Meanwhile: Kevin Mason on how the decline in economical fibre hits different commodities; and Quebec’s forest producers struggle with public wood.
In Climate news: COP29, the UN’s climate summit, kicks off today with an agreement on carbon credit standards. In related news: climate concerns over Trump’s election, and Bjorn Lomborg on the problem with weather calamity claims. In Forestry news: Biden’s old growth plan is not working for Oregon; and a clear-cut is just one phase of a working forest.
Finally, the US Endowment announced new Impact Investing funding up to $6.5 million.
Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor
The Montreal Longshoremen’s Union rejected a final offer made for a new labour contract, leading to a lockout being declared, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) and the union said on Sunday. The MEA said the lockout will impact nearly 1,200 port workers at the Canadian port that handled 8.7 million metric tons in the third quarter of 2024. The lockout will further slow Canadian imports and exports at a time the Port of Montreal was already operating at partial capacity and as West Coast ports are stopped due to a separate dispute. The union representing longshoremen at the Port of Montreal said the offer was rejected by 99.7% of members because the employer refused to negotiate. Two terminals operated by Termont, representing about 40% of Montreal’s container traffic and 15% of total port volume, have been shut down since Oct. 31. However, after Sunday’s announcement all longshoring at the port will be locked out. 
Framing lumber prices continued to climb, and traders tried to assess a number of factors that might affect the market moving forward. The US presidential election injected a dose of optimism among some traders. They also weighed the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut the benchmark interest rate 25 basis points, while Freddie Mac noted mortgage rates were still rising. The Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price gained for the sixth straight week, climbing $11 to $441. That is its highest level since August 2023. A fading Southern Pine market was once again an exception to an otherwise upward trend in most framing lumber species. While supply-driven strength persisted in Canada and the western US, downward price momentum mounted in the South. …Western S-P-F prices continued to climb by double-digit increments in most cases. Buyers with immediate needs padded thin inventories with available supplies.
Explore the latest in sustainable construction at the Wood Solutions Conference 2024, Edmonton’s premier event for wood and construction innovation. The Wood Solutions Conference Edmonton 2024 is an event that brings together architects, engineers, and designers to discuss advancements and sustainability in construction. Focused on biophilic design principles and wood product innovations, this conference is a must-attend for professionals looking to enhance their expertise and certifications in sustainable building. You can expect insightful and educational seminars, networking opportunities and access to a comprehensive trade show featuring the latest innovation in wood design. The event takes place at the Westin Edmonton, on December 3, 2025. 
More than a year and a half after coming to power on a promise to create a Great Koala National Park in the state’s north, new analysis suggests the NSW government’s own logging arm is trashing the forest inside the proposed park. It comes as the Minns government is quietly progressing a proposal to the federal government to earn carbon credits from its forests that could pave the way to end native forest logging across the state. …Logging inside the Great Koala National Park assessment area is four times more intense when measured by area than in nearby state forests outside the park, and environmentalists say the targeted areas are wreaking maximal environmental damage. …Debus, the state’s longest-serving environment minister and now chair of Wilderness Australia, said there was clear evidence that the state forestry corporation was “seriously attacking the ecological integrity” of the proposed national park.
A new partnership could see seven public buildings heated with wood chips. The Chapleau District Heating Project brings together the Township of Chapleau with Commercial BioEnergy Inc., a northern Ontario biomass energy company dedicated to assisting communities in reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. The project will determine the feasibility of constructing a centralized biomass fuelled heating plant to deliver heating to seven public buildings within the community. This will involve converting existing heating sources from propane or electricity to biomass generated heat using locally sourced wood chips. It will be the first such project in North America of this scale, according to the project partners. …A reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 90 per cent for all targeted buildings combined is anticipated.
In just over five years, the world will arrive at its first major checkpoint on climate action: a 2030 deadline to meet a series of green targets aimed at avoiding the most devastating impacts of global warming. These goals … are intended to put the global economy on a path to reducing the amount of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere. Yet … carbon dioxide emissions hit a new record last year. That means the world faces a steeper, far costlier and more disruptive journey to reach net zero by 2050. And that was before the re-election of Donald Trump. With a second term in the White House, Trump is unlikely to steer the world’s second-biggest polluter to decarbonize faster than the current pace. In fact, Trump has vowed to undo many of the nation’s expansive climate policies and withdraw from global cooperation. The consequences will extend far beyond the US.
For the next two weeks, countries will gather on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss how to increase finance for climate crisis adaptation and mitigation. A global agreement on carbon markets will be high on the agenda as countries try to find ways of generating the trillions they need to decarbonise in order to limit heating to below 2C above preindustrial levels. …Carbon markets facilitate the trading of carbon credits. Each credit is equal to a tonne of carbon dioxide that has been reduced or removed from the atmosphere. They come from a wide range of sources: tree-planting schemes, forest protection and renewable energy projects are all common. …Where do they feature in the Paris Agreement? …Why are they so controversial? ….What are the risks if it goes badly?
POMPTON LAKES, N.J. — Fire crews on both coasts of the United States continued battling wildfires on Sunday, including a blaze in New York and New Jersey that killed a parks employee and another in Southern California that destroyed more than 130 structures and damaged dozens more. Firefighters continued making progress against a wildfire northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County that broke out Wednesday and quickly exploded in size due to dry, warm and gusty Santa Ana winds. The Mountain Fire prompted thousands of residents to flee their homes and was 26% contained as of Sunday, up from 21% the previous day. The fire’s size remains around 32 square miles. …Meanwhile, New York State Police said they were investigating the death of 18 year-old Dariel Vasquez, who died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon as he battled a major brush fire in New York state’s Greenwood Lake near the New Jersey line.
