Did you know that the forest sector alone emits more greenhouse gases than all of Sweden’s total emission sources combined?

The world’s northern natural forests store enormous amounts of carbon in vegetation and soil, and are home to rich biodiversity. Species-rich, healthy and natural ecosystems have greater resilience, i.e. they cope better than industrial tree stands and plantations when they are exposed to disturbances, and will thus better cope with the various impacts of climate change. Therefore, it is extremely important to preserve, restore and expand the world’s natural forest area.

While protecting the world’s forests plays a key role in the climate, the Swedish forest industry accounts for gigantic emissions of greenhouse gases from clear-cutting, road construction, forest machinery and transport, combustion of biofuels, and industries such as pulp and paper mills.

Climate-smart forest products?
About 80 percent of forest products become short-lived products that quickly return to the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gases. Only a small part, 15-20 percent, is turned into long-lasting products such as wood for example. Most of the forests that are felled become clear-cut residues, energy, and not insignificant amounts of unnecessary cardboard and paper products, such as direct mail, many different design boxes that are not needed to preserve or transport a product, a plethora of disposable items such as coasters and paper cups in the fast food industry, and all the oversized cartons that transport a lot of air in the growing online trade. These products are not needed to cover the basic needs of humanity.

Overproduction and consumption are driving climate change and biodiversity loss.

Old natural forest is not renewable
The forest industry says that wood and biofuels are renewable and that their products will replace steel, oil, concrete and plastic. However, a natural forest is not “renewable”. You can plant new trees, but an old natural forest that has not previously been clear-cut cannot be planted. It is not possible to recreate this type of habitat in a few decades. It takes centuries or millennia for nature to recreate such a forest.

When the forest industries continue their expansion daily into the shrinking area of real forest, they harvest natural forests with large carbon stores, then it takes an enormous amount of time for the new tree stands to absorb the corresponding amount of carbon, time that we do not have from a climate point of view. In addition, the trees are planted and then felled again. Like a farm.

WHAT DOES PROTECT THE FOREST DO: We work actively with international and national campaigns, with information dissemination, advocacy work and debate to highlight the climate benefits of forests, but also to climate-proof the forests and protect them from exploitation and depletion. We do this, among other things, by working for a reform of today’s vulnerable clear-cutting and plantation model, for climate-adapted ecosystem-based forest management, and for the protection and restoration of forests, increased carbon sequestration and reduced logging.