Climate role of timber and forests on the map at COP26

Photo: AECOM

The Cities4Forests organisation and UK timber marketing campaign Wood for Good are hosting a range of events in and around COP26 in Glasgow to highlight the vital climate role of forests and timber. Cities4Forests is a global programme to encourage urban centres worldwide to connect with and invest in all types of forests, from urban to tropical, and use ‘nature-based solutions for city infrastructure’. Its events at COP26 include a presentation in the Nature Zone titled ‘How cities are inspiring nations, companies and financiers to embrace forest action’.

On November 3 at the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC) at Blantyre near Glasgow it hosts a roundtable on sustainable timber innovation and on November 6, in association with Glasgow City Council, it is hosting a live-streamed presentation on how cities are incorporating nature-based solutions in climate action plans ‘to achieve environmental, social and economic goals’.

Also in partnership with CSIC, Cities4Forests has created the Partner Forest Boardwalk. This will be in place throughout COP26 from November 1-12 and will feature timber from community forest concessions in Guatemala and the Iwokrama community in Guyana. “Our aim is for the Partner Forest ensemble to inspire other cities to invest in faraway forest conservation, which has some of the greatest returns on climate investment,” said Cities4Forests.

Wood for Good is holding a conference on use of timber in construction on November 2 at CSIC as part of the Built Environment at COP26 project (be@COP26). It is also sponsoring the UK Green Building Council’s Build Better Now virtual exhibition. This highlights the ‘role buildings and cities can play as a solution to the climate and ecological emergency’. Wood for Good has also posted an interactive map on its website to show where and when the different activities and events focused on timber take place at COP26.