Speech by Phil Woolas MP to the Timber Trade Journal Wood Futures Conference, Royal Festival Hall, London - 8 November 2007
Many thanks for inviting me to speak today – at a time when the timber industry and forestry issues more generally are moving rapidly up the political agenda due to our increasing understanding of the link to tackling climate change.
There are 60 million indigenous people worldwide who are entirely dependent on forests for their livelihoods, and around another 1.6 billion people who rely on forests for food, fuel and building materials. The importance of forests to the world is therefore clear. For the UK and the wider international world, forests are paramount in supplying timber as a sustainable raw material – a resource UK businesses are increasingly making use of.
Although it is very difficult to know the level of illegal logging currently occurring around the world, a study for the American Forest and Paper Association estimates that roughly 10% of logging worldwide is illegal. Governments in the developing World lose around US$15 billion annually from illegal logging, money which could instead be spent on development. However, illegal logging has wider implications through promoting corruption, undermining the rule of law and good governance and helping to fund armed conflict.
One way of assuring legal timber production and sustainable forest management is forest certification. At the moment only 8% of global productive forest is certified, and the rate of increase in forest certification is slowing.
About 85% of this area is in the northern hemisphere, where problems with illegal production and weak forest governance are less than in developing countries. We therefore need to work harder to support sustainable forest management, particularly in the developing world, not just to reduce illegal logging and associated deforestation but also as a way of tackling global climate change.
The Stern Report highlighted the links between forestry and climate change – deforestation accounts for around 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than the entire global transport sector. The potential for reducing the rate of climate change is therefore substantial if we can address the issue of climate change.
It is vital that Government demonstrates leadership and best practice, and endeavours to stimulate the market. In addition, industry involvement and leadership is crucial to tackling the issues. The work we have done together so far has positioned the UK as a world leader on this issue. Our expertise is respected around the world. Working together means we can have maximum impact. Today I want to address the interrelated issues of timber procurement, illegal logging and climate change and how they fit together.
- Former Defra Minister Barry Gardiner will work to ensure effective implementation of the Congo Basin Fund,
- And international businessman Johan Eliasch is conducting a review into innovative financing to promote sustainable forestry and investment in low carbon energy sources.
This policy has been described by the Timber Trade Federation as being the single most important driver to removing illegal timber from the supply chain.
Our approach has been to try to set a long-term vision. This is why my predecessor announced a change in the UK timber procurement policy from April 2009, with the overall goal of reaching sustainable timber procurement in 2015. This goal serves as a driver and a model for the responsible purchasing policies of other commodities. In my view timber is an important test bed for sustainable consumption and production of other products, most obviously biofuels where what we could learn could be extremely valuable.
To tackle illegal logging we must work internationally. At the EU level, the UK is one of the major supporters of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade – or FLEGT – process. This aims to help developing countries tackle illegal logging, and provide them with better access to EU markets for their legal timber exports. The process will result in more than just legally verified timber. I hope that the development assistance provided to the participating timber-producing countries will lead to wider governance reforms in the forest sector as well as other beneficial economic reforms.
We are also trying to work with other major importers of timber. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the influence of China in the global forest products market. China is one of the world’s largest timber importers and a major processing centre. The high-level UK-China Sustainable Development Dialogue provides an opportunity to share technical expertise and best practice, and provide political encouragement to the Chinese government to trade responsibly. I believe that China is very much part of the solution, not part of the problem. China is clearly committed to its responsibilities as a global consumer, for example as demonstrated by their involvement in a recent EU-China conference on forest governance. The UK Government will continue to look for opportunities to engage them in the debate.
But, as a Government, we are always looking to do more. A clear message from the recent CPET consultation was the need to improve implementation of the timber procurement policy and have a better system of reporting. Without that people lose faith in the effectiveness of the policy. We are working closely with industry to pilot new reporting methods, and I am grateful for your collaboration with us.
Industry has also demonstrated increasing leadership in recent years and has helped Government work towards our sustainability goal. Nearly a quarter of timber industries now have responsible purchasing policies, accounting for some 45% of timber by volume. Sixty per cent of imports to the UK are now from certified forests, and several major retailers have endeavoured to ensure legal sourcing of all timber products.
The climate change debate is changing the way we look at forests. Progressive industry needs to be leading with ideas to tackle the problems. The current spotlight is on ways of compensating countries for avoiding deforestation. The accompanying carbon emissions which contribute to climate change are hugely important. The UK government will continue to pursue an ambitious agreement under the UN at the Bali Conference in December. As we start to see some of the likely consequences of climate change, the world will need to wake up to the fact that good forest management is critical to a country’s resilience and ability to adapt – to extreme weather events, and to changes in provision of ecosystems, agriculture and population movement.
Pressure on forested land will increase in the coming years as markets for fuel, food and fibre converge. Global biofuels production is expanding rapidly. Done properly, this could contribute to climate change mitigation and global poverty reduction. But we need to avoid potential adverse environmental, social and economic impacts. Cutting down forests to grow maize, sugar cane or oil palm needed for the biofuel industry could outweigh carbon savings made through the use of biofuels. And as the market expands, demand for feedstocks increases, and prices are driven higher. It is therefore crucial to have the necessary policy frameworks in place to anticipate potential negative implications for food security, especially on the world’s poorest. Commodity prices, including timber, need to genuinely reflect the lost opportunity costs associated with land conversion. And global political solutions need to take account of the numerous market pressures influencing land use change around the world.
The timber industry frequently makes claims about timber being the leading sustainable construction material, but we need more evidence of this. The assessment of life cycle sustainability is essential, so that the different sectors can be compared and the benefits of choosing sustainable timber can be seen. This will be critical in establishing wood as a key resource in sustainable construction, and in establishing the true value of forests.
For industry, poor performance is increasingly hard to hide in a world of greater transparency, and better communication of environmental performance. Reputational risks for trade will be higher in the future if industries do not face up to their responsibility for sustainability.
This issue and your industry is growing in importance. I believe that the future success of sustainability relies on the relationship between Government and industry. I will want to share news with you through the Timber Trade Journal as the agenda moves forward. Finally, I would like to wish you luck with the rest of the day’s discussions and with your industry in the months and years to come.
Page published:
9 November 2007