Our Forests Aren’t Fuel Update From Europe: Forests Take Center Stage

Over the course of the trip: hustling from meeting to meeting, engaging with officials, delivering our presentation, Communications Director Scot Quaranda and I came to realize an important shift in the way conversation is taking place about the forests we call home. For too many years, the forests of the Southern United States have been sparsely recognized for their incredible contributions to biodiversity, mitigating climate change and improving the health and quality of our communities. Yet, as they begin to take center stage in the global debate over using our forests for fuel, Southern forests have finally begun to get the recognition they deserve.

Our Forests Aren’t Fuel Update From Europe: Brussels and the UK

just 15 months after our first delegation to Europe, our second trip across the pond proves that our message got through. Today, decision makers are clear that the use of our forests for fuel is an area of big concern. We no longer need to debate whether it is just waste wood or residuals; they all understand that the wood pellet industry and utilities are using whole trees.

Forests Should Be Front and Center in Lima #COP20

The longer forests are allowed to grow, the greater the climate benefit. This basic biological fact has given rise to a number of international programs and policies designed to encourage the protection of forests as carbon sinks. In fact, the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, of which many European nations are signatories, has developed a variety of tools and policy frameworks to encourage greater forest conservation.