At the 2025 World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE) in Brisbane, colleagues of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) presented two new research papers showcasing the role of wood products in climate change mitigation as well as as their potential contributions to a sustainable bioeconomy.  The papers presented at the WCTE underscored the importance of improved data, modelling tools, and policy frameworks to fully capture and support the climate and bioeconomy benefits of long-lived wood products and their full integration into national strategies. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) welcomed a call today for urgent action to accelerate progress towards a sustainable forest-based bioeconomy. The Vienna Call for Action was endorsed by participants at the close of the three-day Global Summit of the Country-Led Initiative on Advancing Sustainable Forest-based Bioeconomy Approaches in Vienna, Austria. The event was co-chaired by the governments of Austria and South Africa and co-organized with FAO and other partners.

Leaders from government, science, industry, civil society and major forest-based sector groups gathered for the Global Summit on “Advancing Sustainable Forest-based Bioeconomy Approaches” 23-25 February 2026, hosted by the Federal Ministry, Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management of the Republic of Austria and co-convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), among others, as part of the Country and Organization-Led Initiative on Advancing Sustainable Forest-based Bioeconomy Approaches (COLI).