The world’s wood products — all the paper, lumber, furniture and more — offset less than 1 percent of annual global carbon emissions by locking away carbon in woody forms, according to new research.
The world’s wood products — all the paper, lumber, furniture and more — offset less than 1 percent of annual global carbon emissions by locking away carbon in woody forms, according to new research.
An analysis across 180 countries found that global wood products offset 335 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2015, 71 million tons of which were unaccounted for under current United Nations standards. Wood product carbon sequestration could rise more than 100 million tons by 2030, depending on the level of global economic growth.
The results provide countries with the first consistent look at how their timber industries could offset their carbon emissions as nations search for ways to keep climate change manageable by severely curbing emissions.
Yet the new research also highlights how wood products account for just a small fraction of the needed offsets for all but a select few timber-heavy countries.
Read more at University of Wisconsin-Madison
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