Over 120 groups from around the world declare large scale forest biomass energy a dangerous ‘delusion’

Asheville, Oct. 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A loud chorus of civil society organizations representing hundreds of thousands of people around the world has come together to release a new statement expressing concern over the use of forest biomass for renewable energy. Dogwood Alliance has joined these groups concerned that biomass is a societal delusion for climate change mitigation and who have increased their commitment to working collectively for real solutions that protect and restore forests.

Wetland clearcut traced to biomass and the wood pellet export industry in the Southern US. Pile of logs at a wood pellet production facility in North Carolina, USA.

The statement concludes with, “We, the undersigned organizations believe that we must move beyond burning forest biomass to effectively address climate change. We call on governments, financiers, companies and civil society to avoid expansion of the forest biomass based energy industry and move away from its use. Subsidies for forest biomass energy must be eliminated. Protecting and restoring the world’s forests is a climate change solution, burning them is not.”

One hundred twenty-three organizations from over thirty countries have published this joint statement calling on the world’s governments to end policy support for large scale forest biomass energy. Forests are vital for mitigating the worst impacts of climate change and should not be destroyed for electricity production. The document’s global release happened as the North American Wood Products Industry celebrated #BioenergyDay which is promoting the further expansion of this false solution to climate change.

The statement shows the widespread, diverse, and growing opposition to forest biomass energy production and details biomass energy’s harmful impacts, with signatory organizations from major international NGOs to grassroots groups participating in large numbers. It comes on the heels of the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, outlining a startlingly short timeframe of 10-12 years to rapidly reduce emissions and limit global warming to that threshold. A key highlight of the report was the importance of protecting and restoring forests alongside rapid reductions in fossil CO₂ emissions if we are to keep temperature increases within limits that could prevent catastrophic climate change.

In summary, the statement conveys the organization’s conclusions and agreement that expansion of the forest biomass industry is misguided due to four key issues:

• It harms the climate as burning forest biomass is not low carbon and its encouraged by flawed systems of emission accounting.
• It harms the forests by threatening their biodiversity and climate resilience as well as undermines their climate mitigation potential.
• It harms people as the industries undermine community rights and interests and biomass burning harms human health and well-being.
• It harms the clean energy transition as it provides a life-line for continuing to burn coal for energy production and pulls investments away from other renewable energy sources.

“Forest biomass energy is a lose, lose proposition that has prompted this strong statement of concern from such a multitude of groups. We appeal to policy makers, financiers, the markets and consumers to abandon support for large scale energy production from the forests,” said Peg Putt, Forests and Climate Coordinator for the Environmental Paper Network, which has been the organizer of a year-long global dialogue with NGOs leading to the development of this joint statement.  

The signatory organizations range from Greenpeace International to NRDC and from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation all the way to Friends of the Earth in Bosnia-Herzegovina to the Federation of Community Forest Users in Nepal and to Friends of the Siberian Forests in Russia, who all agree the evidence is clear that burning forest wood for large-scale energy production cannot be part of a sustainable future. Instead we must protect and restore natural forests to reduce emissions and to remove carbon from the atmosphere while supporting biodiversity, resilience and well-being.

Full statement and its signatories: http://environmentalpaper.org/the-biomass-delusion/

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Dogwood Alliance mobilizes diverse voices to defend the unique forests and communities of the Southern U.S. from destruction by industrial forestry. Learn more at www.dogwoodalliance.org or on Twitter - @DogwoodAlliance

Environmental Paper Network is an alliance of over 140 non-profit organizations working together towards the Global Paper Vision. This vision expresses our common goal to create transformational change in the pulp and paper and biomass industry as well as wider society for a clean, healthy, just and sustainable future for life on earth. Learn more at www.environmentalpaper.org or on Twitter - @WhatsNYourPaper
 

Attachments

• NC clear cuts for pellets Erajaa April 2016
• NC Enviva pellet mill Erajaa April 2016

Scot Quaranda
Dogwood Alliance
8282423596
scot@dogwoodalliance.org

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