The Grow the Solution campaign envisions a future where renewable wood products power everyday life and support a lower-carbon world.
Sustainably sourced wood is one of nature's most powerful climate solutions. Trees absorb and store carbon as they grow, and when timber is used in long-life products such as buildings and furniture, the carbon is locked away for decades. Biodegradable and renewable, wood and wood-based products can also replace more emissions-intensive materials like steel, cement and single-use plastics. When forests are responsibly managed, new trees regrow and the cycle continues.
Imagine using sustainably grown wood in ways you might not expect – clothes woven from wood fibre like viscose and lyocell, engineered timber instead of concrete and steel in buildings, transparent windowpanes made from wood, or even biodegradable wooden satellites. This isn't science fiction – it's a rapidly expanding reality that shows how wood-based solutions can lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Launched in November 2025 at the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, the Building for Forests Acceleration Plan brings together forestry, construction, housing and finance to speed up the response to global demand for climate resilience in the built environment and affordable housing. It is spearheaded by the Sustainable Wood for a Sustainable World (SW4SW), the Forest & Climate Leaders' Partnership (FCLP) and Built by Nature in close coordination with UN-Habitat, PEFC International and FSC International. Among the Plan’s main milestones are the Principles for Responsible Timber Construction.
Running till 2030, this collaborative initiative mobilizes resources; generates and disseminates knowledge; documents progress and lessons learned from governments, businesses and other segments operating in the sustainable wood buildings solution; and helps turn their pledges into practical action. Grow the Solution supports Building for Forests in delivering the paradigm change needed to expand responsibly sourced wood's contributions to climate, forests and people.
Explore the Grow the Solution toolkit in multiple languages, ready to be shared across your networks
Kanyanta - architect storing carbon - SOUTH AFRICA
Kanyanta builds prototype homes for vulnerable communities in Langa Township, Cape Town. Her material of choice is timber – it locks away carbon, replaces most emissions-intensive materials such as concrete and steel, and goes up fast. As an architect, she is tackling both climate goals and housing needs at once.
"I am passionate about timber for all its beautiful qualities, its ability to be a carbon sink, but also its speed of construction and what it can do to really impact our environment."
Kanyanta
From makers, architects and engineers to artists, designers and students, Wood Champions are people doing extraordinary things with wood. Do you know a Wood Champion or are you one yourself? Apply here.
Grow the Solution is a global awareness campaign implemented by the Communicators’ Network Joint Initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, in partnership with the Regional Forest Communicators’ Networks and the Sustainable Wood for a Sustainable World Joint Initiative. Climate change is already reshaping our world. Replacing fossil-based materials with wood from sustainably managed forests can help cut emissions and store carbon for generations. The Grow the Solution campaign envisions a future where renewable wood products power everyday life and support a lower-carbon world. Choose renewable wood products over fossil-based alternatives – and help spread the word about a more sustainable future.
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