Carbon neutrality

Canada's forest products industry, a global leader in sustainable forest management, aims to reach industry-wide carbon neutrality by 2015 without the purchase of carbon-offset credits.

To achieve this commitment, it will:

• Reduce direct and indirect emissions through activities such as switching to renewable energy sources such as biomass, increasing cogeneration opportunities, adopting energy-efficient technologies and finding ways to divert forest products from landfills.
• Increase the sequestration or carbon absorbing potential of forests products through landscape planning and sustainable forest management practices.
• Enhance the pool of carbon stored in the value chain and minimize emissions from end-of-life disposal by maximizing recycling of paper and wood products, and understanding the carbon implications of wood-based materials in relation to available substitutes.

"Climate change is the number one environmental threat facing the world today and becoming carbon neutral is the most significant step the forest products sector can take to reduce its overall environmental footprint," said Avrim Lazar, President and CEO of FPAC. "Canada's forest products industry has already made significant strides in mitigating its impact on the climate and its next step is to be carbon-neutral."

Since 1990 the sector has seen a 45 per cent cut in the use of fossil fuels (60 per cent of Canadian pulp and paper facilities' energy needs are self-generated from renewable sources), a 54 per cent improvement in greenhouse gas emissions intensity, a 40 per cent reduction in landfill waste, and a 44 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. All this while, at the same time, many industry players have increased production by as much as 20 per cent.

The forest industry has reduced its climate change footprint substantially over the past 15 years, surpassing Kyoto targets by 5 times.