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Climate Change

There is no solution to the climate crisis without forestry. Forest products—and the forestry sector—are the ultimate green choice. They are essential to helping the world achieve our shared global climate change goal of keeping global warming to 1.5°C or less.

Forest Products Counteract Climate Change on Two Fronts

It’s important to understand that the nature of the forestry industry makes it an essential player in addressing our changing climate.

On one hand, forest products can replace the use of more carbon-intensive building products like concrete and steel as well as fossil-fuel based products like plastic found in food and beverage containers, straws and shopping bags. On the other hand, harvested forests are subsequently replenished with younger, healthier trees that absorb carbon at a faster rate from the atmosphere than older ones.

This means sustainably managed forests fight climate change while they’re growing and then continue to hold carbon as the wood products they come for as long as they are in use.

Our Goal: We will become a net-zero carbon company by 2050 through advancing climate-positive forest management, producing sustainable forest products and developing impactful partnerships.

What we’re working towards:

Reduce

Absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 42% by 2030, from a 2020 baseline year

Measure

Our scope 3 emissions and establish a science-based reduction target by 2024

The Role of Our Forests in Addressing Climate Change

Well-managed forests can help manage environmental risks such as the increased frequency and intensity of wildfires, flooding, insect infestations and extreme weather events.

Carbon from the atmosphere is absorbed by trees.

Carbon is stored as part of the tree for as long as the tree is alive and healthy.

We use every part of the tree that is brought into the manufacturing facility to create lumber, pulp, sawdust, shavings or bioenergy

Carbon remains stored in wood products for the useful life of the structure. This can be 100 years or more. Meanwhile, products made from pulp and paper can help displace products from non-renewable source

At the end of a product’s life, the biogenic carbon goes back into the atmosphere to cycle through the carbon process again.

Our Decarbonization Timeline

2020

Canfor identifies Climate Change as a material topic in refreshed sustainability strategy

Oct 2021

For the first time, disclose a comprehensive 2019 and 2020 GHG Inventory

April 2022

Announce our Climate Change goal and targets

May 2023

Obtained limited assurance over our 2020 and 2022 Scope 1 & 2 GHG Inventories

April 2024

Validate science-based (SBTi) target for scope 3

2030

Reduce Scope 1 & 2 GHG emissions by 42% from 2020 baseline

Decarbonization Abatement Strategies

As part of our decarbonization pathways work, we identified five ways to reduce our scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Energy & Process Efficiency

Implementing strategies and technologies to improve energy and fuel efficiency in existing infrastructure and vehicles.

Fuel Switching

Switching from higher-emission fuels to lower-emission fuels such as biofuels, biodiesel, renewable natural gas, hydrogen and biomass.

Electrification

Electrification of vehicles and stationary mobile equipment.

Investing in Renewables

Producing or procuring electricity from renewable sources.

Other Innovative Technologies

Continuing to investigate and invest in emerging technologies and solutions that will help us reduce emissions in the long term, such as carbon capture, utilization and storage; hydrogen fuel; and direct air capture.

The Carbon Benefits of Mass Timber

As builders and architects look to decrease the carbon footprint of new structures, mass timber is becoming an increasingly more attractive option. Filled with carbon-storing timber beams with the strength of steel, mass timber buildings are strong, resilient, beautiful and climate-friendly.

*For sources see page 80 of full report

Mass timber can be completed 25% faster than conventional buildings

01

A 100,000-square-foot wooden building holds as much carbon as the equivalent of taking 1,400 cars off the road in one year

02

Wooden buildings require less energy to heat and cool

03

Substituting wood for concrete and steel cuts GHG emissions by an average of 60%

04

Canfor’s wood in mass timber projects is certified under SFI or FSC Forest Management Standards in Canada, and SFI Fiber Sourcing Standard in the U.S.

05

Wood is the only readily available, renewable building material that we have

06

More ways we're tackling sustainability:

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