Lord Deben
Confor’s focus on climate change throughout 2019 will kick off with a Westminster event featuring one of the most authoritative figures on the subject. Lord Deben, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), is guest speaker at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Forestry (APPGF) and will talk about the role of forests and wood in helping to meet climate change targets. Source: Timberbiz
A series of reports by the CCC have highlighted forests and wood as “a simple, low-cost option” to make serious inroads into climate change targets.
Last November, it said tree planting must double by 2020 as part of radical changes to land use in the UK.
Friends of the Earth has gone much further, saying tree cover in the UK needs to double (from 13% to 26%) to make a real difference.
The CCC has been asked to prepare a report by the end of March on the UK Government and devolved administrations’ long-term targets for greenhouse gas emissions and the transition to a net zero-carbon economy.
Lord Deben will also answer questions from politicians and Confor members at the APPGF event, Building a zero-carbon economy: the role of forestry and wood processing – which is on Thursday 24 January at Portcullis House, Westminster.
Stuart Goodall, Confor’s Chief Executive, who will also speak at the meeting, said: “Securing Lord Deben to speak is a great start to a year where Confor will focus very heavily on climate change. The Committee on Climate Change has created a compelling case for forests and wood to play a much more significant role in meeting climate change targets and Confor is determined to play a pivotal role in realising the sector’s potential.
“That will mean working with a range of partners with a common goal to raise the profile of what forests and wood can do to mitigate climate change. The key is to ensure policy-makers start listening and acting upon what their independent adviser says. That will include both a step change in tree planting and using far more timber in construction.”
