Forest & climate
Limiting global warming is one of the greatest challenges of our time. As a forest company, we are one part of the solution. Firstly, as trees in our forests grow and capture and bind CO₂. Thereafter, as our sustainable raw materials are turned into products that replace those that leave a broader carbon footprint. In this way, oil and coal can remain underground.
As trees grow, they bind carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas affecting the Earth’s climate. Through photosynthesis, they use carbon dioxide to build wood fiber.
We manage our forests so the standing timber volume constantly increases. This means the trees bind more carbon each year and the forest thus helps to counteract climate change.
In this way, SCA’s forests bind four million tonnes of carbon dioxide, net, each year. This is roughly equal to all emissions from working machinery in Sweden over a year.
Active management
The strong growth is thanks to our active management of the forest. We have healthy forests that grow well due to, among other measures, the use of improved seedlings from our own plant nurseries, active forest management, fertilization and by planting contorta pine in certain soils.
However, the forest industry’s climate effect is not only due to the CO₂ that growing forests bind, but also from the reduction of fossil emissions that arises when forest products replace products made from fossil-based materials. For example, paper can replace plastic and wood can replace steel and concrete. This means oil and coal can remain in the ground and this is referred to as the substitution effect.
Here too, growth in the forest is important so our climate benefit can be as large as possible. Higher growth leads to increased substitution – renewable alternatives can replace more fossil-based products and more carbon can remain in the ground.
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The growth in our forest
Our forest will grow and yield improved access to renewable raw materials through active and long-term management. Today the standing volume is estimated at around 260 million m³fo. We have never had so much forest as today, which is good both for our business and the climate. For every tree we harvest we plant at least 2 new seedlings.
Our climate benefit
SCA was first to present a yearly report of the total climate benefit in its 2018 Annual Report. Skogforsk has been responsible for the administration and development of the calculation model for climate benefit since 2023. This enables reporting to be harmonized with national reporting. The model is being improved in pace with new research and will also become an ISO standard.
Fossil-free world
The forest binds large amounts of CO₂ when it grows. But it also yields substantial climate benefits when it has been harvested, as forest products replace fossil alternatives so the use of oil and coal can be phased out. The products also store carbon throughout their lifecycle. In 2023, SCA contributed a total climate benefit of 12.8 million tonnes of CO₂e. This corresponds to more than one quarter of Sweden’s fossil emissions.