The European Forest-Based Industries have come together to present their 2050 vision and their essential role in contributing to the carbon neutrality target
In 2018, the European Commission presented its “A Clean Planet for All” vision, a long-term strategy for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy by 2050. In 2019, the von der Leyen agenda for Europe put forward the European Green Deal, set to become the first European Climate Law to enshrine the 2050 climate-neutrality target into legislation.
In response to this ambitious agenda, the European Confederation of Woodworking Industries (CEI-Bois), the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), the European Panel Federation (EPF), the European Furniture Industries Confederation (EFIC), Bioenergy Europe and the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform (FTP) have come together to present their 2050 vision and their essential role in contributing to the carbon neutrality target.
CEI-Bois’s vision spans the entire EU-wide value chain of forest-based products, from forest owners and managers to transformation industries, academia as well as research and development. It focuses on forest-based solutions and how they help meet the emerging expectations of Europe’s citizens.
Europe’s Forest-based Industries have an important role in strengthening the European low- carbon circular bioeconomy as they provide a smart industrial ecosystem where materials, by- products and residues are supplied across the various parts of the value chain, to make the most efficient use of resources, including through re-use and recycling. Subsequently, maximising the climate change mitigation impacts of the whole system, while also providing other forest benefits to the society.
“We see the FBI industry commitment as a good way to empower consumers, providing them with more options to choose climate-friendly products. Wood-based solutions enable many sectors to reduce their environmental footprint, including construction, already today”, says Patrizio Antonicoli, Secretary-General of CEI-Bois.
In order to fulfil this vision, the Forest-based Industries have identified 5 ambitious goals to ensure a sustainable and inclusive climate-neutral economy:
- decarbonise Europe 2050 by substituting critical or CO2-intensive raw materials and fossil energy with forest-based alternatives
- eradicate waste in the circular economy by closing material loops with a sector target of at least 90% material collection and 70% recycling rate
- drive resource-efficiency in the F-BI industrial value chain by enhancing productivity in all areas (including materials, manufacturing and logistics)
- meet the increasing demand for raw materials by maximising new secondary streams and ensuring primary raw material supply from sustainably managed forests
- satisfy the growing demand for climate-friendly products by increasing the use of wood and wood-based products in our daily lives. We see our sector becoming the most competitive and sustainable provider of net-zero carbon solutions, through research and innovation, break-through technologies, increasing recycling and reuse.
“Our solutions are made of a material that comes from a renewable and natural resource – European forests. The EU’s sustainably-managed forests produce today an overall climate mitigation impact amounting to 13% of European greenhouse gas emissions and keep absorbing CO2”, says Jori Ringman, Director General of Cepi.
CEI-Bois’s vision is also supported by the European forest owners, farmers, printing industries, parquet industries and agricultural contractors.