Carbon removal credits for timber construction promote sawlog production

Four generations of approaches

Fedrizzi maps the Swiss approaches along the timber chain: from the forest approach since 1996 and the industry approach of the Senke Schweizer Holz association from 2014, via a product approach discontinued in 2020, to Timber Finance's building approach since 2024. For 2027, his overview shows a building approach on the regulated market under the EU CRCF framework. While prices for avoidance projects are falling, the market for carbon removals with proven long-term permanence is seen as the market of the future. Unlike technical solutions such as DACCS or BECCS, timber construction needs no new infrastructure.

Payments for developers and the forest

In 2022, Timber Finance began developing a methodology for the voluntary market under Verra's VCS standard. At the time of writing, approval for the DACH region was expected in autumn 2025. Carbon removals are measured in the load-bearing structure, and the substitution of steel and concrete can also be validated. Part of the payment goes back to the forest for underfunded measures that promote sawlog production. This strengthens the competitiveness of sawlogs against energy wood.

There will be no way around removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and locking it away.

How Timber Carbon sees it

The criteria named in the article, namely measurability, verifiability, additionality, double counting and permanence, apply to every credit. Timber Carbon, launched in 2026 as a spin-off of Timber Finance, now works with the ICVCM-approved Rainbow Standard and its Biobased Construction Materials methodology. Our technology page shows how we meet these criteria. We summarise the starting point of the debate in Reaching net zero with timber.