The substitution effect of harvested wood products from tropical timber producer countries

Background: HWPs may contribute to reaching net-zero GHG emissions by sequestering atmospheric CO ₂ and lowering emissions in manufacturing processes in comparison to functionally comparable items. The relevant mitigating impacts for HWPs produced from wood harvesting in tropical and subtropical forests have been inadequately examined, even though tropical nations are anticipated to contribute 12% of the global timber output by 2050 and that more than 40% of the world's 4 billion hectares of forests are in tropical regions, encompassing 1.73 billion hectares, or about half of the tropical land area. Here, we examine the effect of HWPs produced by tropical nations and their significance in terms of lowering atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Results: The carbon content of HWP was determined by calculating the annual output of the three essential HWP commodities: sawnwood, wood-based panels, and paper and paperboard products based on data provided by FAO (source). Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands accounted for 61.6% of the global HWP production in 2018, followed by Latin America (34.6%) and Africa (3.6%). Wood production annually added the inflow to the HWP pool by 28 MtC, contributing to an annual carbon sink of 35.61 MtCO ₂ y ^-1 Southeast Asia and the Pacific led the average carbon stock in HWP during 1990-2017, with 281 Mt C y ^-1 (53.43%), followed by Latin America with 219 Mt C y ^-1 (41.86%) and Africa with 24 Mt C y ^-1 (4.71%). In the reference period, Southeast Asia annually provides 21,76 MtCO ₂ to the sink, followed by Latin America with 12,82 MtCO ₂ and Africa with 1.01 MtCO ₂ . In 1961, the net potential effect of harvested wood products ranged from 624 Mt CO ₂ eq with a low displacement factor to 3928 Mt CO ₂ eq with a high displacement factor and from 1605 Mt CO ₂ eq with a low displacement factor to 9953 Mt CO ₂ eq with a high displacement factor in 2017. Conclusions: In mitigating climate change, tropical forests play a multifaceted function. Due to deforestation and forest degradation, they are a significant source for global CO ₂ emissions. For sustainably managed tropical forest, the contribution to climate change mitigation must consider the entire life cycle of wood. The energy-substitution effects of harvested wood products and other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind offer prospects for reaching net-zero emissions by the energy transition. Our findings indicate that the mitigating effect of wood consumption cannot be disregarded when making policy decisions and seeking trade-offs between competing forest management objectives. Instead, an effective mitigation approach needs a comprehensive understanding of the possible carbon stock changes in the pool of harvested wood products and the replacement impact.