Region Archives: International

Froggy Foibles

Meet the ‘Zombie Frog,’ a new species found in the Amazon

Deutsche Welle
July 5, 2021
Category: Froggy Foibles
Region: International

Everything is dark. There’s no one around. The raindrops fall heavily. Suddenly, the call ― it’s time to dig. The man digs with his bare hands until he is covered in mud. But he keeps going. His goal is to find the enigmatic creature making that unique call ― a sound that has never been heard before. At first sight, this scene could be part of a horror or a mystery movie. But it has nothing to do with the zombie apocalypse. This is how German herpetologist (an expert on amphibians and reptiles) Raffael Ernst described his experience trying to identify frogs in the Amazon. And the effort paid off. Ernst was part of the discovery of a new species, which has been dubbed the “Zombie Frog.” Its orange-spotted appearance is indeed quite peculiar, but the 40-millimeter (1.5 inches) amphibian is not an undead monster.

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Business & Politics

Pulp And Paper Giant Denounced As The First Delivery Of Eucalyptus Arrives In Portugal From Mozambique

By Global Forest Coalition
Scoop Independent News
July 15, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

The first delivery of eucalyptus trees to Aveiro in Portugal from the port of Beira in Mozambique has been received with strong criticism by Mozambican and Portuguese groups and two international coalitions. The wood is from eucalyptus plantations operated by Portucel Moçambique, a subsidiary of The Navigator Company, and will be used in pulp and paper mills in Portugal. Two more deliveries are expected this year with a total volume of 100,000m3 of wood. Portucel Moçambique has been granted 356,000 hectares of land in the provinces of Manica and Zambézia in central Mozambique to establish eucalyptus plantations on, which is more than three times the area that The Navigator Company controls in Portugal. So far, only 13,500 hectares have been planted, but already a large number of communities have accused the company of violating their rights. …NGOs have appealed to the World Bank to withdraw its financial support for Portucel’s plantations.

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Ikea likely to have sold furniture linked to illegal logging in forests crucial to Earth’s climate, report says…

By Andrew W. Lehren, Dan De Luce and Anna Schecter
NBC News
July 14, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Ikea is likely to have sold children’s furniture for years made from wood linked to illegal logging in Russia, where rampant tree-cutting threatens forests crucial for the planet’s climate, according to a new report by a nonprofit environmental group [Earthsight]. A review of the supply chain … showed that some of the pine wood is likely to have come from Russian logging companies in Siberia that repeatedly violated Russian environmental laws designed to protect the vast boreal forests … The wood cut from protected Russian forests is likely to have ended up in other Ikea products, as well as in the products of other Western companies … Ikea has now told Earthsight and NBC News that it has cut ties with the logging companies in the report. Ikea is the world’s largest furniture retailer … It is also one of the world’s largest wood consumers, using 21 million cubic meters of wood in 2019.

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UK timber shortage: Why wood is so expensive and hard to find

By David Hopkins, Timber Trade Federation & Roderick Aitken, Gilmour & Aitken
The Scotsman
July 2, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

In Scotland more than 80 per cent of new-build housing uses timber-frame systems. [But] shelves once overflowing with timber are either empty, or the wood is far more expensive than a year ago. As the largest representative of the UK timber supply chain – a sector worth over £10 billion to the economy, providing thousands of jobs across the country in forestry, sawmills, high-tech manufacturers, in merchants, and housebuilding – the Timber Trade Federation has been inundated with requests to explain what is happening. Suddenly wood, a material so ubiquitous it is nearly invisible, is making global headlines, and many people are asking the same question: where has all the timber gone. …This recognition of timber as vital for low-carbon construction means demand should stay relatively buoyant, even when this peak dips. …The good news is there is plenty of sustainable timber to meet this demand and a balance will start to be restored

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West Fraser – new face for key industry supplier

By Timber Trader UK
Timber Media Limited
July 1, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Norbord UK is now part of West Fraser. With Norbord a very familiar name in the industry – who are West Fraser and what does the acquisition bring to the UK market and product range? Norbord UK had many well-known brands and products in its range – but will these be changing or being developed into new brands under West Fraser? And will the move to West Fraser change the focus of the business in the UK and Europe? “Absolutely nothing has changed for our customers,” says David Connacher, marketing manager, West Fraser. “The two companies are much aligned and share many common values, including a commitment to safety, efficient manufacturing facilities, a focus on continuous improvement and teamwork, as well as manufacturing sustainable products that are essential for a low-carbon economy.

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Forestry Commission gender pay gap report: Report for the year 2019-2020

By The Forestry Commission
Government of the United Kingdom
June 30, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

This gender pay gap report for the Forestry Commission covers the period 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020. … The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate issues to address such as less women working in higher pay bands. The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. …The average (mean) hourly rate for males is 6.1% higher than females. The median gender pay gap is lower than the mean gender pay gap at 1.35%. This means that of all the male and female employees of the Forestry Commission, the middle male salary is 1.35% higher than the middle female salary. This has decreased since the 2018-2019 pay gap publication

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Junnikkala to build new sawmill in Oulu, Finland

Lesprom Network
June 28, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

Junnikkala is preparing for a big investment that will launch the construction of a modern sawmill unit in Oulu, Finland. Construction will begin in 2022 and will be finished by the end of 2023. Euro 70 million investment will be the biggest investment in Junnikkalas’ history. Currently Junnikkala has two sawmills in Northern Finland in Kalajoki and Oulainen. …With the investment, Junnikkala production increases up to 650,000 m3 which means procuring 1.4 million m3 of wood per year and makes the company one of the largest among the sawmill industry in Finland. …The production capacity of the new sawmill will be 300,000 m3 per year. The new sawmill will process 700,000 m3 of wood, 80% of which is redwood and the rest being whitewood. 

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UK Timber industry rallies businesses to push for political backing

Business Matters – UK
June 28, 2021
Category: Business & Politics
Region: International

The timber industry is seeking to increase its political clout and green credentials in the face of stiff competition from the lobbying efforts of other parts of the building trade. It is calling on the small and medium-sized businesses that make up the large majority of the £10 billion sector to push their local MPs to join a new cross-party group representing its interests. …The Confederation of Timber Industries is calling for the government to follow the recommendation of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change to increase the share of wood used in construction, particularly timber frames used in house building. The built environment, including new development as well as the emissions produced by buildings already in use, accounts for close to 40 per cent of all energy-related CO2 emissions, according to the UN’s environment programme.

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Finance & Economics

South Korea Economy and Housing Market Update

By Tai Jeong, Director, Canada Wood Korea
The Canada Wood Group Blog
July 12, 2021
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: Canada, International

South Korea’s first-quarter economic growth in 2021 is widely estimated to have recovered to pre-pandemic levels on a rapid rebound in exports and investment. …The Bank of Korea has projected South Korea’s economy to grow 3% on-year in 2021. …South Korea’s soaring housing prices have shown no signs of a slowdown. …As housing stability is one of the government’s central policies, the construction ministry will prioritize increasing housing supply by relaxing construction regulations in densely populated urban areas. Year on year wooden building starts and permits for 2020 increased 0.9% and 4% to 10,102 buildings and 12,016 buildings respectively after a consecutive three-year decline starting in 2017. …The share of wooden homes in total single-family housing starts to increase to a record high of 14.2% in 2020. …Demand for remodelling and renovation upgrades such as new decks, gazebos, fences and other home additions have soared. 

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Australia’s Lumber Shortage

By Bill Dorman
Hawaii Public Radio
July 6, 2021
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: International

The coronavirus pandemic… led to disruptions in some unexpected places—including Australia’s lumber industry. Demand for lumber in Australia has skyrocketed—in part because more people are remodeling homes, trying to create more living space since the onset of the pandemic. Australia also has a federal program called “Homebuilder” which includes grants for people building or renovating their houses. All of that demand is coming at a time when the country’s forests are still recovering from massive bushfires of late 2019 and early 2020. One result: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quotes industry figures showing demand for lumber is running ahead of supply by about 15%. … The domestic building boom has taken many in the industry by surprise, and the supply chain issues are not just with wood. There are reports of shortages of materials from bricks to roofing iron.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

B.C. species help achieve biophilic designs within India’s resort sector

Forestry Innovation Investment
July 9, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, International

Within India’s building and design community, there is a growing interest in biophilia–the increased connection to nature through the incorporation of natural materials, such as wood, into building projects. Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) India is leveraging this growing trend by targeting architects, interior designers, builders and developers to position B.C.’s sustainably sourced, certified wood species as the ideal products to achieve biophilic designs. A new project that seeks to achieve biophilic benefits through the use of wood, including B.C. species, is a resort project by Studio Lotus–a local architecture and design firm known for sustainable projects that consider cultural, social and environmental impacts. …Studio Lotus’ current resort project is a large, eco-conscious, multi-villa estate on approximately 100 acres of land in the Kumaon mountain range in Uttarakhand. …The project focuses on using natural, environmentally friendly materials, with emphasis also placed on preventing damage to the surrounding area.

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B.C. species prove to be ideal for use within Vietnam’s sauna manufacturing sector

Forestry Innovation Investment
July 9, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, International

To further expand opportunities for B.C. forest products within the Vietnam market, Forestry Innovation Investment (FII) Vietnam collaborated with Bac Hung–one of the largest local producers of high-end saunas. Looking for a material that was well suited to Vietnam’s luxury hotel and resort sector, the FII Vietnam team introduced Bac Hung to multiple grades of western red cedar (WRC) and western hemlock for trial. …WRC proved to be particularly suited to use within saunas, with its resistance to warping under heat and humidity, pleasant aroma and ability to heat up and cool down quickly. …Western hemlock also proved to have good insulating properties, is non-resinous, has a beautiful light color and appearance, and is cost-effective for sauna construction due to its strength and density. Following the success of the trials, Bac Hung placed orders for WRC shipments from Canada, as well as domestic orders for western hemlock coming from local stockists.

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Sustainable Wood Use to Feature Prominently at the Osaka 2025 World’s Fair

By Shawn Lawlor, Managing Director, Japan
The Canada Wood Group Blog
July 12, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, International

Work is progressing in preparation for the construction of the 2025 World Expo site on Osaka’s Yumeshima Island. The Expo will focus on promoting sustainable development goals and is expected to feature extensive use of green building technologies. The Osaka Federation of All Wood Industries, is working with Expo organizers to develop a massive wooden boardwalk ring which would surround the Yumeshima Expo site. The wooden ring would have a diameter of 700 meters and a circumference of 2.2 kilometres. The boardwalk would measure 30 meters in width and would be elevated up to 10 to 12 meters in some sections. Following the Expo, the proposal is to re-cycle and re-use the structural wooden members in public infrastructure projects and parks.

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A Look At China’s First Wooden Public Transit Station

The Canada Wood Group Blog
July 12, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada, International

The Olympic Sports Central Axis Ecological Park, located on the Olympic Sports Avenue in Baqiao District, Xi’an, is an important supporting project for China’s 14th National Games. …In order not to interfere with the operation of Metro Line 3 and to deliver the project within tight deadlines, the designer was convinced by Canada Wood China to use the wood-frame construction. The structure consists of 244 main beams and 6556 secondary beams, of which the wood keel is lapped with sustainably harvested Douglas fir milled in Canada that was used for glulam components. The Project Team completed the original 60-day construction task with 25 days, with work continuing through the night.

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CEO Secrets: ‘Don’t sell your technology too early’

BBC News
July 14, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Janne Poranen

“If you have an invention, don’t sell your technology too early to anyone,” says Finnish inventor Janne Poranen. …Mr Poranen, who is chief executive of Spinnova, spent six years developing a new type of fibre for clothes made out of waste products such as wood pulp, and then a further six years waiting for the right partners to come along to make use of his break-through technology. He has now signed deals with giant clothing firms H&M and Adidas. Spinnova’s fabric is a thread, like cotton. But unlike cotton it does not need huge amounts of water and chemical additives to produce. “We are the only one who can produce the textile fibres without any chemical dissolving process,” says Mr Poranen. “We can make the textile out of any type of biomass – wood pulp, straw and even old clothes. We are revolutionising the whole textile industry.”

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Wood. Can we still call it that?

By Frida Doveil
Lifegate
July 12, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

Designed to be biodegradable and carbon neutral, the materials of the future are destined to be bio-manufactured, bio-derived, biobased. …This scenario asks us all to rethink the way we mentally categorise materials. And it requires designers and architects to change the way they choose and use materials. …Foremost among these is wood, which, in view of a sustainability profile increasingly aimed at impact minimisation and sustainable forest management, is surprisingly acquiring performance features that are entirely comparable to those of hi-tech materials. Driven by hi-tech innovation, made possible by changes performed at the level of its nanoscopic structure and transformation processes, today wood offers an extraordinary plurality of languages, both technical and formal, while always remaining a natural material. Wood can be transparent, liquid, as resistant as steel or concrete, expanded, 3D-printable, flexible, sewable. And much, much more.

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UK and Finnish firms launch wooden building property fund

By Federica Tedeschi
Citywire Selector
July 12, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

UK real estate firm Cromwell Property Group and Finnish real asset manager Dasos Capital have joined to launch a pan-European wooden building property fund. The Cromwell Dasos Wooden Building fund is an open-ended strategy that will target an initial first close of €100m by the end of 2021.  Cromwell will contribute to its real estate investment, fund, asset, project and development management, while Dasos will handle the timber, land, sustainability and wooden building expertise. Pertti Vanhanen, managing director for Europe at Cromwell, said: ‘An investment in wooden buildings matches the objectives of institutional and other advanced real estate investors who are serious about carbon neutrality and minimising the impact of climate change on our world.’ …Dasos Capital’s CEO, Olli Haltia said the cooperation with Cromwell allows a more diverse group of international investors to benefit from advances and breakthroughs in engineered wood products, such as cross-laminated timber, laminated veneer lumber and glulam.

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“We are already carbon negative by some long stretch” says furniture maker

By Jennifer Hahn
Dezeen Magazine
July 6, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

LONDON — Creating furniture from locally sourced wood has allowed Sebastian Cox to make his company and his employees carbon negative, the British designer claims. Last year, Cox stored 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide in timber products such as furniture, kitchens and treehouses, he calculates. Now, he’s on track to “smash” this record in 2021. …”The design community should be leading the material world into an intense period of re-greening and cooling our planet, and it should start by finding ways to make the excess carbon we have in our skies a resource to be used to regenerate our earth.” …Using wood can enable designers to get carbon neutral “very quickly” …”This is the wonderful thing about wood. It doesn’t require heavy heating, you don’t have to melt it, you don’t have to boil it,” Cox continued.

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We must unlock the potential of the timber industry with new All-Party Parliamentary Group

By David Warburton MP – Wood for Good
Politics Home
July 1, 2021
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

The UK timber industry can help us reach net-zero and meet housing targets – which is why I’m relaunching the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Timber Industries. This Government has committed to build 300,000 homes in the UK each year to make it possible for more people to own a home – a place for people to call their own, a place for families to raise children and build their lives. But it’s not enough to just build more houses – these homes must also be better quality, safer, beautiful, and more sustainable. …As the Environmental Audit Committee looks into the sustainability of the built environment, I expect they will again highlight the importance of using more wood in construction – as the Climate Change Committee have repeatedly emphasised in reports over the past four years. …We must show that we can build more, build better, and build lower-carbon.

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Forestry

Wildlife Conservation Society Announces Appointment of Daniel J. Zarin as Head of Forests and Climate Change Program

Newswise
July 14, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Daniel J. Zarin

Daniel J. Zarin has been named the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WSC) first Executive Director of Forests and Climate Change to lead the organization’s work emphasizing forests as a key nature-based solution to the climate crisis. Zarin is a scientist and global thought-leader who has been focused on addressing the climate crisis for more than 30 years. He is well positioned to lead WCS’s strategy to protect and grow the role of the world’s forests as critical natural infrastructure for climate change mitigation and adaptation, for biodiversity, and for the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people. … Zarin has been at the forefront … to reduce deforestation and advance other natural climate solutions. … Zarin has published widely on forest ecology, management, and policy, and the interface between deforestation and climate change.

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Minister ‘must act’ following ‘abysmal’ forestry figures

By Charles O’Donnell
Agriland
July 13, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue is being called on to take “immediate action” following the release of forestry figures that are being described as “abysmal”.  Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice was responding to the publication of the Forestry Dashboard for the week ending July 9, which, the TD pointed out, indicated that only 22 licences were issued, compared to 115 the previous week.  According to Fitzmaurice, 10 of those 22 licences were for Coillte felling applications, and just one was a private felling application.  “While the Forest Service promised that it would deliver 100 applications a week to meet its target of 4,500, we are now beginning to see the reality,” Fitzmaurice argued. The Roscommon-Galway TD called on the minister to recognise that the Forest Service was “not fit for purpose” and that “a major overhaul was needed”. 

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Forestry and carbon sinks: Damned if you do, damned if you don’t

By Kira Taylor
EURACTIV
July 11, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: International

BRUSSELS — The complex role of forests in regulating the Earth’s climate is set to become one of the most contentious issues in the upcoming revision of Europe’s energy and climate laws. With its forestry policy, the European Commission will be seeking to balance three objectives: drawing down climate-warming CO2 from the atmosphere, preserving natural habitats for biodiversity, and sourcing raw materials to replace fossil fuels used for energy. “If you want to serve three purposes with one tree – which is biodiversity, carbon sink and bioenergy – you need three trees,” an EU official said at a press briefing last week. “We need more trees, to be very blunt.” To achieve just that, the Commission is expected to present an EU Forest Strategy on Wednesday (14 July), which will include “a roadmap for planting at least 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030.”

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ForestTECH 2021 programme now out

ForestTECH 2021
July 1, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Every year one major forest technology series is run in this region. It’s designed by and for Australasian forestry resource managers, inventory foresters, researchers and tech developers. It’s the one event every year where remote sensing, GIS, mapping and forest inventory specialists, and for the first-time last year, tree crop and silvicultural managers – get-together. It’s independent. It’s run by this region’s leading forestry technology events company, the Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA). Amidst the uncertainty of events in the COVID-19 environment, we’re delighted to announce that like the 2020 event, ForestTECH 2021 in November is ON. Like 2020, the physical event will again be run in just one location this year, Rotorua, New Zealand. Live links the event will also be available. In addition to New Zealand presenters, key technology presenters and forest companies from Canada, Finland, Germany, South Africa, Chile and Australia will all be presenting this year.

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Future forests – if the European commission decides

Per Johsson
Forestry.com
July 5, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: International

A draft of the EU commission’s upcoming forest strategy about future forests has leaked. …It´s a draft for a strategy for forests within the EU, but with a hope that it should spread globally. …According to the EU commission, wealthy and resistant forests are matters of fate for the climate. …The cascade principle was launched a few years ago. It classifies products from the forest in descending order due to how important they are from a climate point of view. …The draft suggests that a drastic displacement from today’s short-lived end products towards more long-lived ones must be made in future forestry. …The EU commission thinks that clear-cuts let out too much carbon dioxide. …It´s suggested that clear-cuts should be forbidden, unless “it´s proven that it is necessary for eco-system- or for environmental reasons”.

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Forest Strategy: an unacceptable attempt to regulate forestry

By Anna Holmberg (Head of Brussels office) and Emma Berglund (Forest Director, EU)
Swedish Forest Industries
June 21, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Emma Berglund and Anna Holmberg

STOCKHOLM -The draft of a revised EU Forest Strategy is an unacceptable and far-reaching proposal to regulate forest planning, monitoring, management, and industry production. It expresses a clear lack of understanding of how forest management and the forest-based industries work and their full contributions to a climate neutral society. In a recently leaked draft of a revised EU Forest Strategy, the Swedish Forest Industries find that the European Commission proposes not only a strategy, but in fact a common EU forest policy. “The draft proposal clearly oversteps the Member States competence on forest policy. Even if the Commission has shared competences on environmental policy, the draft proposals cannot be justified solely by this. To us, it seems as if the Commission is prepared to do whatever they can to enlarge their area of decision making. This is unacceptable”, says Emma Berglund, Forest Director, International and EU affairs, at the Swedish Forest Industries.

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Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles resigns amid Amazon illegal logging probe

By Rodrigo Pedroso and Jessie Yeung
CNN
June 25, 2021
Category: Forestry
Region: International

Ricardo Salles

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil’s controversial environment minister, Ricardo Salles, announced Wednesday that he was stepping down from the position amid an investigation into allegations he obstructed a police probe into illegal logging.
Salles’ term as minister since 2019 has been marked by high deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest and a series of investigations into alleged irregularities, which led to mounting public pressure for him to resign. …This month, Brazil’s Supreme Court opened an inquiry into allegations that Salles obstructed an investigation by federal police into illegal logging in the Amazon. …Salles is being investigated for administrative advocacy, hinder of environmental inspection, and hinder of investigation of a criminal offense involving a criminal organization. …Salles denies any wrongdoing.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

European Commission unveils plans to cut GHG emissions by 55%

By Erin Voegele
Biomass Magazine
July 14, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

The European Commission on July 14 adopted a package of proposals that aim to reduce net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030 when compared to 1990 levels. Among the proposals are those related to forestry, renewable energy and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). One of these proposals, the Regulation on Land Use, Forestry and Agriculture, sets a overall European Union target for carbon removals by natural sinks, equivalent to 310 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. National targets will require member states to care for and expand their carbon sinks to meet this target. By 2035, the EU should aim to reach climate neutrality in the land use, forestry and agriculture sectors …  According to the EC, it supports foresters and the forest-based bioeconomy while keeping harvesting and biomass use sustainable, preserving biodiversity, and setting a plan to plan 3 billion trees across Europe by 2030. 

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Will Russia’s Forests Be an Asset or an Obstacle in Climate Fight?

By Fred Pearce
Yale Environment 360
July 15, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

…Stretching across eleven time zones, Russia has the largest area of forest on the planet, with more than a fifth of the world’s trees. New research has found that, as those trees grow faster in a warmer world and edge northward into the Arctic tundra, they are grabbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere faster than any previous estimates would suggest. Most years, it turns out, Russia’s boreal forests take up more carbon than is being lost to deforestation across the whole of the tropics. It is, of course, good news for the global climate that nature is in overdrive in the great wilderness of Siberia. But climate scientists are increasingly concerned that there is a downside, too. …The new data, collected with the help of several Russian forest research institutes, suggests the scale of the offset that Russia — the world’s fourth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning — could declare.

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How climate change and fires are shaping the forests of the future

By Technical University of Munich
EurekAlert!
July 14, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Forest fires are already a global threat. “But considering how climate change is progressing, we are probably only at the beginning of a future that will see more and bigger forest fires,” explains Rupert Seidl, Professor of Ecosystem Dynamics and Forest Management in Mountain Landscapes at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). …”The interaction between climate, forest fires, and other processes in the forest ecosystem is very complex, and sophisticated process-based simulation models are required to take account of the different interactions appropriately,” explains Prof. Seidl. TUM is using artificial intelligence to significantly expand the field of use of these complex models. …The simulations completed by the team of scientists include simulations for the “Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem” …Depending on the climate change scenario, the study has found that by the end of the century, the current forest coverage will have disappeared in 28 to 59 percent of the region.

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The science of forest biomass: Conflicting studies map the controversy

By Justin Catanoso
Mongabay
July 12, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

A major political and environmental dispute is heating up as the forestry industry and governments promote forest biomass … to make electricity. They claim the science shows biomass to be sustainable, with the energy produced resulting in zero emissions. Forest advocates and many researchers sit squarely on the other side of the argument, providing evidence that forest biomass is destructive to forests and biodiversity, is dirtier than coal, and destabilizing for the climate. Moreover, they say, the carbon neutrality claim is an error that will greatly increase carbon emissions. These diverging viewpoints are colliding this week as the European Commission wrangles with revisions to its legally binding Renewable Energy Directive, with recommendations to the European parliament due July 14, Analysts say the EU rules counting biomass as carbon neutral are unlikely to change. Mongabay provides a review of the science on both sides of the forest biomass debate…

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Welsh Government in ‘call to arms’ to plant more trees to tackle climate change

Evening Standard
July 12, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International
The Welsh Government has issued a “national call to arms” urging people in the country to plant more trees in a bid to tackle climate change. Around 86 million trees need to be planted by the country over the next nine years to achieve its ambition of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, according to the Climate Change Committee. Lee Waters, deputy minister for climate change, said trees helped to tackle climate change and improved air quality, as well as nature and people’s mental wellbeing. “To tackle the climate emergency, Wales needs a step change in woodland creation and a transformation in the way Welsh wood is used across our economy,” Mr Waters said. “According to the Climate Change Committee, to reach net zero, we need to plant 43,000 hectares of new trees by 2030, rising to 180,000 hectares by 2050. That means planting around 86 million trees over the next nine years.”

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Nordic countries endure heatwave as Lapland records hottest day since 1914

By Lisa Cox
The Guardian
July 6, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Nordic countries have registered near-record temperatures over the weekend, including highs of 34C (93.2F) in some places. The latest figures came after Finland’s national meteorological institute registered its hottest temperature for June since records began in 1844. Kevo, in Lapland, recorded heat of 33.6C (92.5F) on Sunday, the hottest day since 1914 when authorities registered 34.7C (94.5F), said the STT news agency. Several parts of Sweden also reported record highs for June. The high temperatures follow the record-breaking heatwave and wildfires that have caused devastation in parts of North America. The intense heatwave has killed 95 people in the US state of Oregon alone, its governor said on Sunday. Hundreds are believed to have died from the heat in the US north-west and south-western Canada. Experts and officials fear that the catastrophic conditions, fuelled by the climate crisis, will only get worse through the coming months.

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World Bioproduct Day

World Bioeconomy Forum
July 7, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

We at the World BioEconomy Forum have chosen to take time to reflect on the role and importance of bio-based products in superseding non-renewable options. Through the adoption of more bio-based materials we can move towards solutions that are more sustainable and healthier for us and the planet by stepping away from fossil fuel feedstocks. … The possibilities of bioproducts are endless. …We are launching a new campaign called “Bioproduct Day” on 7 July in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of bioproducts around us, and how they contribute to the larger goal of environmental sustainability and climate action. We ask you all to share your experience and story on bioproducts by posting a photo or a video of a bioproduct whether it be yours or your company’s, whoever it may be.  We ask you to share your post via LinkedIn or Twitter with the accompanying hashtag, “#bioproductday”.

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Bamboo: A Substitute for Wood for Biofuel

Bio Market Insights
July 6, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Once presented as a no-failure promise to cut carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of a changing climate, biofuels have come under attack over the years due to negative effects, such as increasing deforestation, promoting land degradation and diminishing biodiversity. However, private companies and research organizations around the world still have faith in biomass energy and recently, bamboo has caught their eye, as evidenced in a study made in Indonesia which we discuss, as it presents a future in sustainable energy. Bamboo, which according to the FAO occupies 36 million hectares worldwide, has many advantages over other trees in terms of sustainability and carbon sequestration. Its fuel characteristics, high productivity, short rotation and rapid growth makes bamboo even much more valuable… bamboo is a fast-growing species, but it can also grow and develop perfectly in degraded lands with minimal use of water or fertilizer, stabilizing soil, controlling soil erosion and retaining water in land.

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The EU’s biomass dilemma: can burning trees ever be green?

By Camilla Hodgson
The Financial Times
June 30, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

In May, a billboard appeared outside the EU parliament in Brussels playing a video that showed sparse, deforested woodland… and the words “the EU burns forests as fuel”. The protest formed part of a campaign by green groups to… strip forest biomass from the list of energy sources classified in Europe as renewable. …Weeks earlier, nervous about the growing pressure on policymakers to change the rules, ministers from 10 European countries wrote to Timmermans to stress the “crucial role” played by bioenergy fuels, such as pellets, in helping member states meet the EU’s climate goals. …It was a none too subtle reminder that if the status of biomass is changed it may be almost impossible for the EU to meet its target for renewables to provide a third of all energy usage across the region by 2030.

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How 165 Words Could Make Mass Environmental Destruction An International Crime

By Josie Fischels
NPR – National Public Radio
June 27, 2021
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: International

Mass environmental destruction, known as ecocide, would become an international crime similar to genocide and war crimes under a proposed new legal definition. The definition’s unveiling last week… marks a big first step in the global campaign’s efforts to prevent future environmental disasters like the deforestation of the Amazon or actions that contribute to climate change. There are currently four core international crimes: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. These crimes are dealt with by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). …The draft defines ecocide as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.” …Between the formal proposal of an ecocide crime by a member country and ratification, however, could take years to decades.

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Forest Fires

Planes dump water on Siberian wildfires as residents plead for help

Reuters in The New York Post
July 14, 2021
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

MOSCOW, July 13 – Russia’s army sent firefighting planes on Tuesday to battle huge wildfires that have blanketed Siberian towns in thick smoke as residents complain of being suffocated in a region known for its frozen tundra that is now sweltering under a heatwave. With flames tearing across some 800,000 hectares of Russian forest, the hardest-hit region of Yakutia in the north has been in a state of emergency for weeks as climate scientists sound the alarm about the potential long-term impact. …“We’re suffocating, our lungs are being poisoned by acrid smoke,” reads one of two online petitions by Yakutia’s residents addressed to President Vladimir Putin. …Russia has seen its annual fire season become more ferocious in recent years, as climate change has driven unusually high temperatures across the northern Siberian tundra. …The Siberian fires have raised fears about the permafrost and peatlands thawing, releasing carbon long stored in the frozen tundra.

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Wildfires rage in Russia, Spain and the US amid high temperatures

By Daniel Bellamy
Associated Free Press in Euronews
July 11, 2021
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

Forest fires have broken out in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region near Kazakhstan and in north-eastern Siberia. The Ministry of Emergency Situations said it has deployed aircraft and a helicopter to fight the fires, as well as 240 personnel to Chelyabinsk where two large villages have been evacuated. Wildfires are also ravaging northeastern Siberia where temperatures have been abnormally high. …In May Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources, said that, due to global warming, the permafrost is disappearing such that in a couple of decades it may be possible to farm the land. …Meanwhile in the southern Spanish province of Malaga fire crews have been battling a fire since the early hours of Friday near the small town of Jubrique. It quickly spread to 300 hectares burning through pine, chestnut and cork trees, according to local reports. …And in northern California which is enduring scorching temperatures, lightning strikes have sparked fires.

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Cyprus says huge forest fire ‘under full control’

The Associated Free Press in France24
July 5, 2021
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

The Cyprus Forestry Department said Monday that a deadly wildfire, the island’s worst in decades, was now “under full control”. The blaze, fanned by strong winds, broke out Saturday and swept through parts of the Troodos mountain range, leaving four Egyptian labourers dead, before being reined in by water bombing by Greek and Israeli aircraft. “The fire that broke out on Saturday… came under full control today Monday, July 5, 2021 at 08:00 am,” the department said in a statement. The fire, described as the worst since the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960, destroyed 50 homes, damaged power lines and forced the evacuation of 10 villages. It burned an area of about 55 square kilometres covered with forest vegetation and crops.

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Brazil’s Amazon sees highest number of forest fires for June since 2007

By Gabriel Toueg
The Anadolu Agency
July 2, 2021
Category: Forest Fires
Region: International

Brazil’s Amazon region in June recorded the most forest fires for that month in 14 years, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which compares the number of fire spots for the same month of previous years. There were 2,308 fire spots identified by INPE’s satellites in June, a 2.6% increase over June last year, when the number of Amazon fires had already set a historic record, said the research institute. The previous record high was in June 2007, when 3,519 fires were seen in the region. The top record for June was in 2004, with 9,179 fires, but previous governments’ initiatives since then have managed to curb the forest destruction.  June marks the beginning of the dry season in the Amazon.

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