Building new homes from timber could save about 10% of the world’s carbon budget which is needed to limit global warming to 2° according to a new study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Source: Timberbiz
The study, published in the Nature Communications journal, found that housing 90% of the world’s growing urban population in mid-rise timber buildings could avoid 106 billion tons of carbon emissions by 2100.
Australian Forest Products Association CEO Ross Hampton said the report clearly demonstrated that increasing use of timber and fibre was critical to fighting climate change and that Australia needed more sustainable forestry.
“Australia, and the world, is turning more and more to timber and fibre products to fight climate change and improve the state of the environment. This is why we must get one billion new production trees planted locally by 2030 to meet Australia’s future needs, to allow a greater take-up in mid and large-scale timber construction,” Mr Hampton said.
“It’s also why Australia must lead the world on promoting sustainable forest practices, including reducing deforestation, enhancing sustainable native forest management, and growing plantations. This is all required to feed world demand over the next century,” he said.
South Australian Forest Products Association CEO Nathan Paine said South Australia could be a world leader on sustainable, low-emission timber construction, as we have an innovative local timber manufacturing industry and potential to grow the timber plantation estate.
“This study confirms that building with sustainably-sourced timber delivers the best climate mitigation outcome, and will become increasingly important if South Australia, Australia and the world are to meet our ambitious emissions reduction goals,” Mr Paine said.
“South Australia is well placed to become a leader in mid and high-rise timber construction with the new Timberlink combined CLT/GLT plant being constructed in Tarpeena in the South East. We already have a couple mass timber buildings including the Adelaide Oval Hotel, with many more in the pipeline. We also have a strong timber house frame manufacturing sector experiencing high demand.
“We need to urgently grow the plantation estate and maintain the modest levels of timber production in our multi-use forests so we can maintain and boost our manufacturing capacity instead of relying on imports to meet future growth in demand.”
South Australia already has more around 180,000 hectares of plantations across the state which are replanted after harvest to provide a perpetual carbon sink that is already making an enormous contribution to South Australia’s net zero emissions goal.
“Furthermore, half the weight of timber is stored carbon, so every time we build with timber that has been grown, manufactured and replanted in South Australia we get an even better climate change mitigation benefit,” Mr Paine said.
“The good news is that in Australia we have ample under-utilised rural land that is suitable for growing the plantation estate without replacing productive farmland.
“The reality is that the world needs more wood fibre. In Australia, we have the land, the industry and the expertise to boost our timber production and do more with wood – the ultimate renewable,” Mr Paine said.
VFPA CEO Deb Kerr said “Latest estimates show that Victoria’s population will grow significantly by 2056: 47% in the regions and 84% in metropolitan Melbourne. That means nine million people would call Melbourne home in the coming 34 years, which also means we need to build a lot of houses in the state. With the right policies in place, we can ensure that most of these new houses are built with wood. And the icing on the cake will be to build them with wood grown and processed in Victoria.”
