Two studies from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) present one of the strongest cases yet for wood products as a climate solution, warning that their potential continues to be undervalued in national policies and climate models. Drawing on regional data from the Asia‑Pacific and global projections through to 2070, the research shows that replacing steel and concrete with timber, extending the lifespan of wood products, increasing recycling and reuse, and improving production processes could deliver major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions — in some scenarios by as much as 50% compared with business‑as‑usual construction.
The first study, Wood Products for Climate Change Mitigation in the Asia-Pacific Region, focuses on a region that is home to more than half of the world’s population and is projected to account for two-thirds of all new urban floor space by mid-century. Produced under the IUFRO–WOOD for GLOBE initiative, it argues that targeted policy reforms and market incentives could elevate timber’s role in decarbonising buildings and infrastructure from modest to transformative.
Whilst the second, Forest Product Demand and Supply in a Bioeconomy Transition, co‑authored with Bauhaus Earth and international collaborators, models global supply and demand for engineered wood through to 2070. Early findings suggest that shifting a significant portion of construction to engineered timber could deliver roughly half of the construction industry’s total potential emissions savings while accelerating the transition to a sustainable bioeconomy.
The findings were presented at the World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE) 2025 in Brisbane — one of the largest in its history. The five‑day conference drew 960 delegates from around the globe, including 250 from Australia, along with strong contingents from Japan (127), Canada (68), the US (60), New Zealand (52) and Germany.
- To find out more about WCTE 2025, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive coverage. And to learn more about some of the oral and visual poster presentations – including how timber engineers studied the charred remains of Notre-Dame to understand the aging properties of wood – click here.
