Wood Be Better: EU Forest-Based Industries for a sustainable future

Please watch the recorded event here below

On the 30th of September an event was held: EU Forest-Based Industries for a sustainable future. This was a joint event between the Wood Be Better network and the Confederation of European Paper Industries (Cepi). The event consisted of two seminars:

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Part 1: EU Forest Strategy post 2020 - what should it achieve, why and how?

Hosted by Wood Be Better: 09.00-10.30 CET

The European Commission has announced that it intends to put forward a revised EU Forest Strategy during the first quarter of 2021. In May 2020, the Commission published its 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, which among other areas focuses on forests and forestry. The Biodiversity Strategy states that the revised Forest Strategy should be "... in line with our wider biodiversity and climate neutrality ambitions". From a forest owner and/or manager's perspective, navigating in the present EU policy landscape is anything but easy. Many questions arise, such as:

  • What is the vision and overall objectives for the revised Forest Strategy?
  • What role should the Forest Strategy play in EU policy development going forward?
  • How will the Forest and Biodiversity Strategies relate to each other?
  • How can the total impact of the two strategies be correctly interpreted?
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Part 2: EU Forest-based Industries' contribution to the 2050 climate neutrality objective

Hosted by Cepi: 09.00-10.30 CET

In March 2020, the European Commission presented its proposal for a 2050 Climate Law, which presently is under negotiation in the Parliament and the Council. To reach climate neutrality, all sectors of the society must contribute. The EU Forest-based industries contribute in three ways: by sequesting carbon in growing forests, by storing carbon in products and by replacing fossil based products.

In the coming years, the Commission is to present several initiatives concerning a Sustainable Product Policy Framework. To what extent and how will forest-based products be included? Will products based on renewable resources be the preferred option?

Focus was on:

  • Climate effects of the forest-based sector in the European Union
  • The role of forests for carbon-neutrality: is the EU climate policy framework going in the right direction?
  • The space for forest-based products in the future EU Product Policy: beyond the Re-use or Recycle dilemma.