MTK and Finnish Sawmills Association highlight climate benefits of forests in Brussels - increasing pressure to change LULUCF decisions - MTK en
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MTK and Finnish Sawmills Association highlight climate benefits of forests in Brussels - increasing pressure to change LULUCF decisions
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MTK and Finnish Sawmills Association highlight climate benefits of forests in Brussels - increasing pressure to change LULUCF decisions
29.04.2025
According to the European Commission, the LULUCF regulation on emissions from the land-use sector will be reviewed this year. MTK and Finnish Sawmills Association argued for active management and use of forests and the importance of a competitive sawmill industry at a seminar in Brussels. “The European Commission must acknowledge the facts and recognise that the basis for a climate policy based on forest carbon sinks has changed,” MTK President Juha Marttila insisted.
MTK and Finnish Sawmills Association organised a scientific seminar on 24.4. to present tools for a smart renewal of LULUCF policies to Brussels’ decision-makers.
A competitive forest sector will help Europe move from a fossil fuel economy towards a sustainable bio-circular economy. However, the green transition will only succeed if the operating environment is actively developed.
“The single most important issue for the competitiveness of the sawmill industry is the availability of wood, which should not be weakened for political reasons. The EU's climate policy must not lead to a relocation of logging to North America and Russia” stressed Tino Aalto, CEO of the Finnish Sawmills Association, at the seminar.
Mr. Aalto also encouraged the European Commission to boost the promotion of wood construction strongly. Professor Maarit Kallio from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences confirmed the estimates of the shift of logging to other regions. According to Ms. Kallio, the vast majority of the logging to be reduced to meet LULUCF targets would be shifted from the EU to different parts of the world. In addition, Ms. Kallio said that studies show that restricting logging would be an extremely costly climate measure, the cost of up to €1,000 per CO2 tn.
Professor Annamari Laurén from the University of Helsinki said that active and climate-smart forestry is also possible on peatlands. According to Ms. Laurén, climate-smart forest use must be seen as a whole. Partial policy optimisation according to individual objectives can lead to a weaker outcome. Lauren also stressed that restoring peatlands is not a climate-smart measure because restoration will warm the climate for hundreds of years to come.
Forest Director Marko Mäki-Hakola presented MTK's nine theses on how to maximise the climate benefits of forests.
“Reducing logging will not help to achieve the climate benefits,” Mr. Mäki-Hakola concluded in his speech.
Further information:
Mr. Marko Mäki-Hakola, Forest Director, MTK, +358 40 5026810
The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), https://www.mtk.fi/web/en
Mr. Tino Aalto, CEO, Finnish Sawmills Association, +358 50 5748713
Finnish Sawmills Association https://sahateollisuus.com/en/
Marko Mäki-Hakola
Forest Director
+358 20 413 3701
+358 40 502 6810
topics: seminar, sustainability
