Climate scientists are telling us that, to avoid unspeakable hardship, we’ve got 25 years at best to get to net zero with our greenhouse gas emissions and be well on the way with deep drawdown of atmospheric carbon, for which we’ll be relying substantially on healthy forests.
 
We need to critically consider the popular perception amongst design professionals and the public, that wood is the ultimate building material because the atmospheric carbon dioxide sequestered in it, by the living tree from which it’s sourced, is greater than the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted in its processing to saleable timber product.
 
It's important to look at the forest from which the wood’s been procured and to acknowledge the overwhelming carbon emissions incurred there for the most when trees are harvested.
 
These emissions dwarf any carbon stored in the timber procured. They represent a forest carbon debt that should be repaid by healthy forest regrowth over time, as our environmental product declarations (or EPDs) assume. But with the incidence and severity of bushfire, heat and drought related stresses in forests now rapidly increasing with climate change, that post-harvest regrowth and so the return of carbon to our forests is at great risk, certainly within the timeframe we have remaining for impactful climate action. 
 
The level of this risk rests very much with the methods used to manage naturally regenerating and purposefully planted forests and with the proportion of the forest biomass that can be held in long-lived carbon sinks like timber in construction or biochar for agricultural soil improvement.
 
Address of this carbon dynamic that occurs in the forest, or at the living cradle from where timbers are sourced, is sorely missing from EPDs. And of course, alongside and entwined with forest carbon debt, there are deep concerns around biodiversity and broader forest health. These concerns and worthwhile strategies for addressing them were introduced in a presentation by Paul Haar to a meeting of the Materials and Embodied Carbon Leaders' Alliance (MECLA) in October 2023.
 
Then in September 2024, Paul organised this spotlight event hosted by MECLA. It brought together five experts across several disciplines, to look at initiatives in forest, timber and construction industry that show great promise for limiting forest carbon debt and building resilience for natural and planted forest ecosystem in a changing climate.

The speakers included:
Patrick Baker - Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology in the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences at the University of Melbourne.
Mark Wootton (OA) - Owner of Jigsaw Farms (large carbon-neutral mixed livestock and agroforestry operation).
Daniel Wright - Director and National Business Development Manager at Australian Sustainable Hardwoods.
Darren Minto - Client Relationship Manager at Crafted Hardwoods.
Paul Haar - Architect and Honorary Principal Fellow in the School of Architecture and Building at the University of Melbourne.