Does the timber industry benefit from decarbonisation?

Four perspectives on one topic

Around 70 participants followed presentations by Stefan Majer of the German Biomass Research Centre, Harald Schwarzschachner from industry, Erik Reichmuth, Managing Director of the Timber Finance Initiative, and Prof. Dr. Andreas Krause of the Thünen Institute of Wood Research. Reichmuth pointed to alliances such as the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which bring together almost 200 companies with assets of more than 85 trillion US dollars. These companies would buy forests, build with timber and purchase carbon credits.

We want to contribute to climate protection by strategically supporting the forestry and timber industry, and we see ourselves as part of the existing industry.

An “overwhelming” yes

To illustrate the influence of the carbon price, Reichmuth presented the Timber Finance Index of 30 listed companies: while timber prices exploded in March 2020 and calmed down in 2021, the index stayed high. Asked whether there is money in CO₂, he answered with an “overwhelming” yes. The initiative's aim, he said, is to establish timber construction as the cheapest and most scalable negative emissions technology. In response to suspicions of greenwashing, he pointed to the long tradition of sustainability in forestry and timber.

How Timber Carbon sees it

We summarise the launch of the index in our article on the Lignum news item of March 2022. Timber Carbon, launched in 2026 as a spin-off of Timber Finance, quantifies, certifies and monetises the carbon removed in mass timber buildings as carbon removal credits on the voluntary carbon market.