Sustainable Carbon Cycles:  Role of Forests?

The Wood Be Better network invites to a hybrid event - choose if you want to participate on site or by link.

In December 2021, the European Commission adopted a Communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles. It sets out an action plan on how to develop sustainable solutions to increase carbon removals. The Communication includes several initiatives, among them to reward land managers for carbon sequestration, ambitions to increase the share of biobased materials in the construction sector and to incentivize carbon removals through Bio-Energy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).

The European Commission will by the end of 2022 put forward a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals. The certification framework should ensure the transparent identification of carbon farming and industrial solutions that unambiguously remove carbon from the atmosphere.

The upcoming legislative proposal and the already adopted communication on Sustainable Carbon Cycles raises several important questions for forest owners and forest industries, such as:

How to ensure that carbon removal schemes do not divert action from reducing fossil emissions, the number one priority in mitigating climate change?
What risks and opportunities do carbon farming business models for forests provide in terms of developing the bioeconomy and ensuring the provision of renewable and recyclable raw material to displace fossil resources?
How can we design technical and nature-based carbon removals solutions that do not prove counterproductive to other societal objectives, such as reducing the use of fossil resources or preserving biodiversity?
How can the upcoming legislative proposal contribute to providing the largest climate change mitigation from forests?

Program:

10:30
Welcome
Anna Holmberg, Director and Head of the Brussels office, Swedish Forest Industries and Mia Crawford, Forest Director EU and International Affairs, Federation of Swedish Family Forest Owners

Opening Address from today’s host 
MEP Erik Bergkvist (S&D),  Member of the TRAN and REGI Committees and substitute in the ITRE Committee. 

Short interventions by the speakers 

Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit, Directorate-General for Climate Action, European Commission
Ulriikka Aarnio, Senior Policy Officer, Climate Action Network
Hans Djurberg, Sustainability Director, SCA

Panel discussion
Moderated by Anna Holmberg and Mia Crawford.

Closing remarks from today’s host 

12:00 The end 

Most welcome to register,

Anna Holmberg, Swedish Forest Industries
Mia Crawford, LRF Skogsägarna (Federation of Swedish Family Forest Owners)

The Wood Be Better network, based in Brussels, focuses on policy development affecting the forest based sector.