Sustainable forest-based industries

Contributions of the sustainable and circular wood-based bioeconomy to Sustainable Development Goals

• SDG target 8.2 stresses the urgent need to achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrade and innovation. The forest sector, from restoration to transformation, can contribute to employment while diversifying the economy in a sustainable way.
• SDG-target 8.4 calls for “global resource efficiency (in production and in consumption)”, also contributing to SDG 15 as the more efficient use of sustainably harvested wood “promotes sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems” and facilitates sustainable forest management;
• SDG target 9.2 aims to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and, by 2030, significantly raise the industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances, and double its share in least developed countries. Sustainable industrialization gives priority to renewable material and energy resources such as wood and the whole diversity of possible products derived from solid wood and its compounds such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, resin, terpens and polyphenols;
• SDG target 11.1 aims to ensure by 2030 access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums. Construction material made of wood can contribute to increasing adequate, safe and affordable housing;

©Pierre Bouillon

• SDG target 11.c calls for support for least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in constructing sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials. Local and sustainable wood value chains can strongly contribute to this target;
• SDG target 12.2 seeks to achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources and to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. Sustainable and efficient wood transformation and use can contribute to this objective;
• SDG target 12.5 aims at substantially reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. The cascading use of forest products, applied by the wood processing industries, in particular paper industries, already made a significant contribution to this target;
  
  
  
• SDG target 15.1 aims to ensure conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements. Enhancing the value of the forest and its products can provide incentives for sustainable forest management practices,
• SDG target 15.2 promotes the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.