“The Annual Forestry Conference at the end of last year showed how forestry is on the agenda in 2022”
Held not long before the COP26 conference, the Annual Forestry Conference drew attention to the huge potential that forestry has to help fight climate change. And it also highlighted how it’s set to be a major part of the country’s social and political agenda this year. Lord Deben, chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, was direct in his assessment of the problem:
“If we’re to make up for lost time we have to know that climate change is going to get worse because it’s already in the system – especially for the British because we started the Industrial Revolution. Climate change will become more obvious whatever we do and it’s important to recognise that because as awareness increases, support increases. We have to give people the confidence that if we get on top of it now we can do things in a reasonable, sensible way.”
Lord Deben is under no illusions that fighting climate change will be easy – but he maintains that the UK’s 2050 net zero carbon emissions target is achievable. And one of the ways in which he believes we can achieve it is through forestry.
However, a further challenge is what to do with all the timber that this produces. He said “the most important thing now is to create a market for the wood we produce and the government has to think that through much more than it does.”
The current government has announced a number of climate initiatives, and tree planting features heavily in its roadmap to a greener Britain. At Quercus, we support the growth and revitalisation of the country’s forests, and we are aware that the onus is on all of us in the timber trade, and related industries, to make a strong case for the use of wood.
If you would like to discuss which type of timber is right for your customers, or how you can promote timber’s use in your business, please contact us on 0845 50 50 311 or via our contact page. Our friendly team of experts is always happy to share our knowledge with clients, helping them choose the perfect materials for their projects.