Wooden cities can avoid a lot of carbon dioxide emissions, without taking over farmland for timber production

“Explicitly protecting these protected areas is critical, but nevertheless, planting timber plantations at the expense of other unprotected natural areas could lead to further increases in biodiversity loss in the future,” Pope said.

Other studies suggest that transitioning to a healthy diet with less meat consumption can help free up land for wood and food production while maintaining biodiversity.

“Our study confirms that timber cities can play a vital role in the fight against climate change, thanks to their long-term potential for carbon sequestration, but well-thought-out policies and urban planning are essential to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity, food supplies and ensure a sustainable transition to timber cities.”

“Forests should grow back after harvest and store at least as much CO2 as they were before harvesting,” PIK said. “Lumber buildings should be at least as old as the time taken to pay off the ‘carbon debt’ of the felled forests.” Researcher and co-author Galina Churkina.

“The major challenge for global sustainability is the deep and coherent transformation of land uses and structures. When carefully integrated, these two sectors can remove and store significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without jeopardizing food security or biodiversity,” he said. PIK Director and co-author Hans Schellnhuber. “This could become the climate solution we are desperately looking for.”

The study, conducted by PIK researchers, was published in Nature Connections. This article is based on a telex from the IPS news agency and a press release from the Potsdam Institute für Klimafolgenforschung.