Canadian Forest Service Publications
Climate change mitigation in British Columbia’s forest sector: GHG reductions, costs and environmental impacts
Year: 2020
Issued by: Pacific Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 40632
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Available from the Journal's Web site. †
DOI: 10.1186/s13021-020-00155-2
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Plain Language Summary
This study used a sound analytical framework for assessing mitigation and examined the forest ecosystem C balance, C use and storage in HWPs and landfills, and substitution benefits from using wood in place of fossil-based energy or emissions-intensive products. We modeled public forests of BC at 1-hectare spatial resolution from 1990 to 2070, for a forward-looking business-as-usual and then compared emissions to scenarios where we changed forest management and wood use starting in 2020. Forest management included greater use of harvested materials for either energy or products, reduced harvest levels, and greater production of longer-lived wood products. We further estimated the costs of reducing GHG emissions and associated socio-economic benefits related to jobs, government revenue and GDP.