Canadian forest sector welcomes new federal advisory body on net-zero emissions

Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the appointment of members of the federal government’s Net-Zero Advisory Board. Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) welcomes this move by Minister Wilkinson to establish a non-partisan group of experts to help the federal government develop a pathway to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In response to the Minister’s announcement, FPAC President and CEO Derek Nighbor made the following statement: “Canada’s forest sector was one of the few industries that supported the Kyoto Protocol, we were an early adopter of Paris Agreement commitments, and we will be there again to help power the drive to a net-zero carbon Canadian economy by 2050. We have the unique opportunity to go beyond net-zero and can do this by: sequestering carbon and reducing land-based emissions through climate smart forestry and sustainably managing forests in the face of worsening pest, drought, and catastrophic fire risks; locking carbon into long-lived wood products and innovative wood building construction; building on our successful track record of reducing greenhouse gas emissions at our mills; carbon emissions at Canadian forest product mills have been reduced by nearly 70% since the early 1990s and we can do more.Using what would otherwise be wood waste to further green our operations and providing lower-carbon materials and biofuels to help other industries decarbonize. Canada’s working forests and Canadian-made forest products can help us fight climate change and drive post-pandemic economic recovery. We look forward to supporting the work of the Net-Zero Advisory Board so we can unlock both the environmental and economic potential of our sector, its people, and forestry communities across the country.”