Mitigating Climate Change. Creating Value. Utilising Resources Efficiently
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CLIMATE CHARTER VALUES FOR WOOD 2.0 RESOURCES Mitigating climate change. Creating value. Utilising resources efficiently. Charter for Wood 2.0 bmel.de 2 INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE Introductory message from Federal Minister Klöckner Dear Readers, The topics of forests and wood have received greater attention in recent years. We have seen that the impact of climate change on our forests affects us all. It poses a serious, and in some cases existential, economic threat to many forest owners. They have to remove timber from damaged areas and also face the enormous task of ensur- ing climate-resilient reforestation. On the other hand, European Commission’s Renovation Wave Strategy there is a fast-growing public awareness of forest-related and New European Bauhaus Initiative also underline issues. And people are increasingly realising that our the potential of timber use, both in the building sector most important renewable raw material – wood –, and and as a contribution to a resource-conserving circular the use of wood, can make a significant contribution economy. This potential should be exploited by all actors. to climate change mitigation and to the conservation A sustainable management of our forests is one of the of finite resources. This applies to the field of timber basic prerequisites in this regard. construction, for example, or to new applications in the bioeconomy. I would like to thank all those who are actively support- ing the Charter process and have enhanced it through As the ‘forestry ministry’, we are well aware of the fact their expertise and creative impetus, for instance during that we are responsible for both sides of the issue and our dialogue events. In the new chapter entitled ‘The have acted accordingly. In the field of forestry policy, Charter for Wood 2.0 as a process’, we will look back on we have developed new support schemes to assist the some illustrative examples. The different competencies forestry sector in conserving our forests and coping with and professional exchange play a vital role in imple- converting them into climate-compatible mixed forests menting the Charter for Wood 2.0. in this extremely difficult situation. By making available a total of EUR 1.5 billion for the benefit of climate-re- The impact of climate change on our forests and the silient forests, we have launched the largest ecological forestry & wood cluster will continue to be of key forest conversion programme that Germany has ever importance for the further Charter process. You are seen. And within the scope of our Wood Resource Policy, all invited to remain actively involved, to make your we have implemented a large number of activities aimed perspective and your questions and ideas heard in at expanding opportunities for intelligent timber use, the dialogue process and to participate in the social boosted by the Charter for Wood 2.0. discourse on forests and timber. The Charter for Wood 2.0 is a continuously evolving “Mitigating climate change. Creating value. Utilising dialogue process that takes into account current resources efficiently.” – it’s worth the effort! developments. The most recently revised edition of the Charter brochure contains updated data and the Char- ter’s references to new overarching political strategies With kind regards, Julia Klöckner such as the European Commission’s Green Deal. The Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture 3 CONTENTS Introductory message from Federal Minister Klöckner 3 1. Why do we need a Charter for Wood 2.0? Objectives and contributions of the forestry & wood cluster 5 2. Principles and guidelines 13 3. Priority fields of action and important goals 17 • Using wood in urban and rural construction 18 • The potential of wood in the bioeconomy 22 • Material and energy efficiency 26 • Forests and wood as resources 30 • The forestry & wood cluster 34 • Forests and wood in society 38 • Research and development 42 4. Taking responsibility: Players and tools 46 5. The Charter for Wood 2.0 as a process 53 6. The role of the BMEL 59 4 1 Why do we need a Charter for Wood 2.0? Objectives and contributions of the forestry & wood cluster 5 CHARTER FOR WOOD 2.0 Why do we need a Charter for Wood? Objectives and contributions of the forestry & wood cluster Time to take action strengthen the contribution made by sustainable wood It was a historic moment when the United Nations use to achieving climate change mitigation targets. The community adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Climate Action Plan also calls upon us to closely link Development in New York in September 2015. The Agenda efforts to increase the contribution to climate change reflects the international community’s promise to face the mitigation provided by forests, sustainable forestry challenges of the 21st century together and make a life of and intelligent use of wood with the requirements of dignity and prosperity possible for all human beings. resource and material efficiency. The challenge is huge: it is expected that Earth will be Subsequent to the Climate Change Conference in Paris, home to almost 10 billion people by 2050 – about 2.5 the agricultural ministers of the Federal Government billion more than today. The global need for healthy food, and the federal states (Länder) passed a resolution housing and energy will continue to increase as a result. to implement a “Charter for Wood” based on their However, resources are already being used at a rate that conviction that “… sustainable forest management, exceeds the earth’s regenerative capacity. sustainable wood use and consistently using wood as a substitute for energy-intensive materials that have The goal must therefore be to find an efficient way of a harmful CO2 impact can make a significant contri- utilising the ever-scarcer and increasingly expensive bution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and resources – commodities, energy and land – while to mitigating climate change overall, making these bearing in mind the need to conserve these resources. To factors indispensable for reaching the goals set in do so, growth and prosperity must, as far as is possible, the Paris Climate Agreement.” In this resolution, the be uncoupled from the use of these finite resources. We agricultural ministers also emphasised the signifi- need to rethink the way we consume Earth’s resources cance of sustainable forest management and wood use in order to reduce our dependency on fossil and mineral for strengthening the forestry and wood sector and resources and pave the way for a bio-based society thereby strengthening rural areas in particular. They sustained by the use of renewable resources and energies. consider it vital to increase social awareness for these New concepts for providing a secure and sustainable arguments even further. supply of energy and resources, with due account taken of sustainably generated biomass, are therefore gaining In light of the major social and political challenges, importance. the use of wood as the most important renewable resource is of particular significance. Sustainably Climate change is also one of the biggest challenges of our produced wood from structurally rich forests has the time. In the Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015, potential to increasingly replace materials produced the international community resolved to take active steps on the basis of fossil resources and to conserve energy to limit the rise in the global average temperature to 2 °C from finite resources while simultaneously mitigating between now and 2100. The participating countries also climate change. committed themselves to achieving this goal by imple- menting national climate change mitigation plans. Information box: The Third German National Forest Inventory (BWI 3), Charter for Wood 2.0 – Mitigating climate published in 2014, confirmed that German forests are being change. Creating value. Utilising resources managed sustainably. According to the report, reserves efficiently. in German forests have increased to 3.7 billion m³ – even In November 2016, the Federal Government enacted a though the benefits of wood as a renewable resource have series of ambitious objectives and measures by adopting led to an increase in wood consumption. No other country in the Climate Action Plan 2050. It describes the Charter the European Union has forests that are as rich in reserves, for Wood 2.0 as a milestone on the path to achieving structure or species. Today, forests in Germany are being its climate change mitigation targets. One of the managed more nature-oriented than before. goals of this Charter is to develop measures that will 6 Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC Christiana Figueres, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, and President François Hollande of France at the Paris United Nations Climate Change Conference 2015 The foundations for responsible utilisation are a substantial component of which is utilising wood sustainable forestry and the goal set out in the Forest potentials that are available in the long term. Strategy 2020 of creating a viable balance between the increasing demands being placed on the forests Within this context, the Charter for Wood 2.0 and their performance in the long term, which must emphasises the potential of using wood sourced from be adapted to meet future requirements. Taking sustainable forest management and the contributions it climate-conscious action also means eliminating the can make, meaning that the Charter is in direct support use of non-renewable resources to the furthest possible of international, European and national goals of extent. The Federal Government formulated this mitigating climate change, creating value and utilising goal in its National Policy Strategy on Bioeconomy, resources efficiently. Information box: CHARTER FOR WOOD 2.0 – NEW EMPHASES, DIFFERENTIATED OBJECTIVES: With the objectives of mitigating climate change, creating value and utilising resources efficiently, the Charter for Wood 2.0 focuses on qualitative growth to support central international, European and national political objectives.