29 August 2013: The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Working Group on Environment and Economics commissioned a report on the role of Nordic forests in climate change, which was undertaken by Indufor. The report examines the role of forests in climate change mitigation, as part of a cost-effective climate policy.

The report, titled ‘The Role of Forests in Climate Change: Nordic Experience,’ suggests that Nordic countries could learn from existing examples and strengthen national policies to promote the use of climate-smart solutions and raw materials. It examines the possibility of combining national policies and integrating elements suitable to support wood fuel use at the Nordic level. Using the example of a common quota system for renewable electricity in Norway and Sweden, the report suggests investigating whether such a system could function for the whole Nordic region.

The report also discusses: the role of forests in enhancing carbon stocks and sinks in Nordic countries; the extent of above- and below-ground biomass and their role as carbon sinks in Nordic forests; and the use of wood in products, buildings and as bioenergy. It also presents emissions trading schemes from around the globe that allow offsets and credits from forest projects, and provides an analysis on the feasibility of using such a scheme in the Nordic region.

Regarding the possibility of establishing a common Nordic fund, the report suggests that such a fund could administer financial support money to develop and pilot projects of new wood energy systems from publicly and privately funded sources, noting that Norway has successfully been using such a system for over a decade, and that opportunities exist to develop such incentives in collaboration with the Working Group for Renewable Energy or with Nordic Energy Research, both under the Nordic Council of Ministers. [Publication: The Role of Forests in Climate Change: The Nordic Experience] [Nordic Council of Ministers Website] [Indufor Website]