Forrests cover 30% of the world's landmass. Second to the oceans they are the largest carbon sink on Earth, and a vital part of the planet's natural carbon balance. Globally, deforestation continues at an alarming rate, but it's largely confined to tropical hardwood forests. In Europe, our forests have grown by an area about the size of Greece in the 15 years between 1990 and 2005, and that growth continues at the rate of 661,000 hectares a year, roughly three football pitches every hour of the day and night. Europe's forests alone provide a carbon store of between 150 and 200 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, sinking an additional half billion tonnes every year, and they produce over 90% of all the wood we use in Europe. What's the best way of using Europe's growing forests to help tackle climate change? Trees grow by photosynthesis, as they grow they absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. When they are harvested, most of the carbon dioxide stored in the tree remains stored in the wood product. Because Europe's forests continue to expand, the carbon stored in the wood product is a clear additional gain. This is the carbon sink effect that means wood is better than carbon neutral, so that the more wood you use in a building, the lower its carbon footprint. In Europe, the carbon store of wood products keeps over 220 million tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, an amount which is increasing by around 20 million tonnes a year as the volume of wood products increases. Using more wood also helps increase the carbon sink effect of the forest. Because mature trees, which absorb less carbon dioxide, are replaced with vigorous new trees, as required by law throughout Europe, and a prosperous market encourages investment in future growth. But using wood products has even greater benefits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in construction. Because wood products are better than carbon neutral, the more wood we use from sustainably managed forests, the more carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. Add to this, the savings made by using wood instead of energy intensive materials like concrete bricks, steel and aluminium and wood products can have a really significant effect on greenhouse gas emissions. Every cubic metre of wood used instead of other construction materials saves around one ton of carbon dioxide. The carbon benefit of wood products can be enhanced by extending the life of the product through good design and regular maintenance, reusing products like pallets, flooring, paneling and beams, recycling and by using waste and end of life wood as a carbon neutral biomass fuel. Using more wood products from Europe's expanding forests is one of the simplest ways to build a low carbon economy and help to tackle climate change. Tackle climate change use wood.