Four climate tests for durable wood products  — (CFFC 2022 4/10)
Channel: Washington Conservation Action
Date: 05/01/2023

Four climate tests for durable wood products — Session 3: Carbon Friendly Forestry Conference 2022

Speaker:
Dr. Bill Keeton, who is a Professor of Forest Ecology and Forestry at the University of Vermont.

Session Description:
Despite recent excitement, durable wood products remain controversial within the scientific community in terms of their net climate mitigation effects. Advocates tout the carbon sink potential of innovations such as mass timber, while skeptics stress the risks of net carbon loss from intensively managed forest landscapes. Moreover, the science has examined a wide variety of forest-based Natural Climate Solutions (NCS), generating often competing proposals. Debate over the relative carbon value of passive (e.g. reserves) vs. active (e.g. silvicultural) forest-based NCS is an example.  
 
Because over-reliance on any one NCS, including durable wood products, would carry risk of unintended consequences, Dr. Bill Keeton has proposed four tests to minimize uncertainty and maximize the potential for beneficial outcomes. This session will explore these four tests:  
 
Test #1: Does an emphasis on production of durable wood products compete with or complement other NCS, such as conservation or restoration?  
 
Test #2: Does production of durable wood products contribute to stable or increasing net carbon stocks at landscape scale? Is the carbon sink capacity of durable wood products greater than the long-term opportunity cost of emphasizing a different mix of NCS?  
 
Test #3: Is the production of durable wood products part of multi-functional forest management, ensuring beneficial outcomes for a range of objectives including biodiversity conservation?  
 
Test #4: Does production of durable wood products help make forests future adapted? Will it increase or decrease resilience to fire, insects, and other disturbances?