The European woodworking industry reaffirmed its strong commitment to scaling up sustainable, carbon-neutral products rooted in responsible forest management. The message below was delivered at the COLI high-level international bioeconomy event, which brought together ministers and senior policymakers from across the globe to discuss the future of the forest-based bioeconomy and its role in climate neutrality and sustainable growth.
The European woodworking industry is already delivering climate mitigation and adaptation solutions by substituting fossil-based and non-renewable materials in construction, manufacturing, and everyday products.
However, to unlock the full potential of the bioeconomy, the growing demand of sustainable resources requires a pragmatic, market-oriented and coherent policy framework grounded in industrial reality. In particular, the development of the bioeconomy cannot disregard the adequate supply of raw materials. Europe must enhance wood mobilisation while respecting national sustainable forest management frameworks. The sector calls for a non-discriminatory approach that combines primary and secondary wood resources.
Strategies to incentivise investments and demand solutions of the bioeconomy must go beyond research support and shall explicitly promote the scaling-up and diversification in the application of already existing bio-based products. Coordinated demand-side instruments, such as Green Public Procurement and whole Life Cycle Assessments in construction should create reliable competitive markets, without generating disproportionate administrative burdens, particularly for SMEs. Competitiveness must remain central.
A coherent approach is also needed between the Bioeconomy Strategy and housing policies. Bio-based materials must be recognised accordingly. Standards must allow a fair comparison between bio-based and non-bio-based materials, ensuring that renewable and carbon neutral solutions can compete on equal footing. Renewability must be recognised alongside recyclability and reusability in EU circular economy legislation.
The European woodworking industry stands ready to contribute to a bioeconomy that delivers climate neutrality, economic growth, rural livelihoods and decent employment. To succeed, EU policies must be coherent, proportionate and grounded in industrial reality.
Silvia Melegari, Secretary General of CEI-Bois and EOS: “If Europe is serious about building a competitive and climate-neutral bioeconomy, it must first secure a stable raw material base. Increasing wood mobilisation and ensuring reliable long-term access to wood resources must be the top-priority number one if we want to scale up bio-based solutions and effectively replace fossil-intensive materials.”
For further information, you can download the CEI-Bois Recommendation Paper to the Council on the EU Bioeconomy Strategy here.
