Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee

Recommendation 51

Fifth Report - Seeing the wood for the trees: the contribution of the forestry and timber sectors to biodiversity and net zero goals Published 19 Jul 2023 Paragraph 232

Environmental Audit Committee Sustainable timber and deforestation All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Recommendation (the committee's words)

We recommend that the Forestry Commission, as the Government’s experts on forestry, work with Ofgem to share best forestry practice. The objective of this collaboration ought to be to ensure that, should demand for domestic wood biomass in energy markets increase, the regulatory framework for bioenergy feedstocks derived from forestry crops and silvicultural activities is developed in line with principles of sustainable forestry. The collaboration ought to be undertaken in full recognition of the need to deliver on the UK’s commitments to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Diversity Framework, and on the Government’s commitments and obligations under the Environment Act 2021.

From: Environmental Audit Committee, Fifth Report - Seeing the wood for the trees: the contribution of the forestry and timber sectors to biodiversity and net zero goals (HC 637), paragraph 232, 19 July 2023

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 15 December 2023 (deadline 19 September 2023).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government agrees that forestry and timber will be crucial nature-based solutions for Net Zero and biodiversity, says it has "already acted or is planning action" on many recommendations, and sets out where it is working with industry and consulting rather than committing to the Committee's specific proposals.

On sub-targets for woodland types, the Government says it "could consider" them but that they "would not be statutory", and that a single undifferentiated target was set "to improve delivery confidence".
On a long-term domestic timber production target, it says setting one "would be challenging" because harvesting rates depend on factors such as global timber markets.
On the Timber in Construction Roadmap, it reports "good progress" and says it intends to publish "later in 2023".
On biomass, it says its Biomass Strategy sets out actions the Government is "minded to take" to strengthen sustainability criteria, "subject to consultation", and "intend[s] to publish a consultation" in 2024.

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