Mjostarnet, Norway’s highest timber building is the most tall in the world. A new study has shown that timber can be used in place of cement or steel to stabilize the climate. Timber buildings can reduce greenhouse gas emissions as it eliminates the need to produce cement and steel. However, timber buildings are also carbon sinks because they store carbon dioxide that has been absorbed from the trees. This means carbon dioxide cannot be released into the atmosphere. The study’s author Galina Churkina, who is associated to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (USA) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany), says that urbanization and increased population will lead to a large demand for new buildings and housing. This risk could be turned into an effective way to reduce climate change. This potential is possible under two conditions, according to our analysis. The first is that the forests harvested are managed sustainably. The second is that wood taken from demolition of timber buildings can be preserved on the land in different forms.” According to UN estimates, 2.3 billion people will live in cities by 2050.. Additional housing will be required to accommodate this significant increase in population. The CO2 emissions from minerals-based building materials could exceed 20% the CO2 emission budget of 2050. This is the budget to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. According to the study, these buildings could store up to 700 millions of tons of carbon dioxide each year if they are primarily made of wood. Christopher Reyer, co-author of the study from PIK stresses that protecting forests is crucial. “Protecting forests against unsustainable logging as well as a range of other threats are therefore key if timber usage is to be substantially increased.” Our vision of sustainable forest management could improve the condition of forests around the world as they become more valuable. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, coauthor and director Emeritus at PIK says that trees offer a technological marvel. They take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and then transform it into oxygen and carbon for us to inhale. There is no better way to store carbon than this. While societies have used wood to build buildings for centuries, climate stability is a challenge that requires a serious scaling up. We humans can create a safer home by converting wood to modern building materials, and managing harvesting and construction well.” Journal Citation Churkina (G.), Organschi (A.), Reyer (C.P.O. See et. al. The global carbon sink of buildings Nat Sustain (2020). https://doi.org/10. 1038/s41893-019-0462-4
