A poem as lovely as a tree

The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) and its members say they welcome the signing of a United Nations agreement to tackle climate change, set to take place on April 22, in part because, “the global forest products industry has a highly significant role to play in the implementation of the [agreed upon] targets.” A primary target is to keep the average global temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius.

“The global forest products industry has made significant strides in reducing its carbon footprint, stocking carbon and generating greenhouse gas removals – all helping to mitigate climate change,” says ICFPA President and Brazilian Tree Industry President Elizabeth de Carvalhaes. “This agreement is crucial to implementing some of the policies that consider biomass as carbon neutral when harvested from sustainably managed forests and to further recognize all positive contributions that forests and forest products provide in combating climate change.”

ICFPA says its members have achieved a 5 percent reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions intensity since 2010-2011 and 17 percent since 2004-2005.

The European pulp and paper industry has “taken concrete steps” to reach its goals, says Jori Ringman, acting director general of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI). “Thanks to responsible sourcing practices and sustainable forest management, the forest area is growing in Europe by an area of over 1,500 football pitches per day. CEPI is pleased to see development in the same direction globally,” he adds.

Each year since 2007, more than 35 million metric tonnes of scrap paper have been collected in the European Union, according to Eurostat. Much of this recovered fibre acts as feedstock at mills in Europe while most of the rest is used in a similar fashion in Asia.

The ICFPA represents more than 30 national and regional forest and paper associations around the world and combined its members represent more than 90 percent of global paper production.