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Forests and forest industries can contribute to climate change mitigation by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, by storing it in biomass, and by fabricating products that substitute more greenhouse gas emission intensive materials and energy. The objectives of the study are to specify alternative scenarios for the diversification of wood product markets and to determine how an increasingly diversified market structure could impact the net carbon emissions (NCEs) of forestry in Finland. The NCEs of the Finnish forest sector were modelled for the period 2016–2056 by using a forest management simulation and optimization model for the standing forests and soil and separate models for product carbon storage and substitution impacts. The annual harvest was fixed at approximately 70 Mm3, which was close to the level of roundwood removals for industry and energy in 2016. The results show that the substitution benefits for a reference scenario with the 2016 market structure account for 9.6 Mt C (35.2 Mt CO2 equivalent [CO2 eq]) in 2056, which could be further increased by 7.1 Mt C (26 Mt CO2 eq) by altering the market structure. As a key outcome, increasing the use of by‐products for textiles and wood–plastic composites in place of kraft pulp and biofuel implies greater overall substitution credits compared to increasing the level of log harvest for construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies have a central role in the transition towards more sustainable economic systems, as they are one of the major sources of environmental impacts, economic activity and social development. Various tools are available to support sustainability assessments, but there is little information on how suitable they are for company-level assessments and how companies use them in real-life applications. The article examines some of the commonly used tools and the utilisation of these tools in Finnish companies. A sample of seven tools was compiled: multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), material flow analysis, life cycle assessment (LCA), input–output models, sustainability indicators and indices, cost–benefit analysis (CBA) and optimisation methods. MCDA, LCA, CBA and optimisation methods were found to be successful with respect to many of the criteria used in the evaluation, but none of them was comprehensive. The assessment indicates that MCDA has the greatest potential to be successfully applied to support sustainability assessment, but solely applying MCDA is not suggested, since MCDA needs input from other tools and methods, in order to have reliable impact assessments. Finnish companies regularly employ sustainability criteria and indices, and a few construction companies had applied LCA, but utilisation of other tools was rare. The findings indicate that the tools frequently discussed in research are not actually used by companies. Expert-driven sustainability trials and user-friendly, simplified tools could be a solution to issues of accessibility in real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A commonly agreed methodology for weighting the relative importance of different environmental impacts in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is lacking, although it is becoming a typical phase in LCA. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) provides an avenue to develop weighting tools applicable in LCA. The purpose of this paper is to describe a process of assessing environmental impacts of two alternative raw materials and to present the problems related to it. A panel which includes experts in measuring the environmental impacts of biomass production was requested to identify and weight impact categories to assess environmental impacts of biomass production. The panelists identified new environmental impacts (such as biodiversity) not included to the standard LCA. The highest weights were given by the panelists to climate change, natural land use change and biodiversity. The environmental impacts were analyzed for four case biomass production chains producing biodiesel and pulp in Finland. In case chains, the raw material for biodiesel is Asian palm oil or Finnish rapeseed oil, while the raw material for pulp is South American eucalyptus or Finnish birch. The calculations of the LCA impacts were limited to the impact categories for which inventory data were available. In calculations, different types of normalization procedures were tested to receive information on their effects on the LCA results. According to the results, in some cases normalization have considerable impact on the magnitude of the results. In general, the results imply that biomass imported from developing countries has less environmental impacts compared to the local forest and field biomass produced in Finland. However, due to the several sources of uncertainties included in the results, they are only to be used for illustrative purposes. In the future, applying the MCDA in LCA may deepen the applicability of the analyses, if valid and reliable data is available. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Wood-based substitution benefits are likely to decrease over time • Carbon residence has more importance in the future as an indicator • Energy use of wood should be reduced to increase climate benefits • Global agreement is needed to fund clean technologies and reduce fossil ones To obtain net climate benefits from intensified forest utilization in the short-term, the substitution impact of wood harvesting and increased carbon stocks of wood-based products should be higher than the forest carbon stock loss. However, the product specific substitution impacts change dynamically over time along with technological development, and long-term climate change mitigation strategies need to consider this, as well as the market forces. We identified future pathways enabling globally market viable environments for wood utilization scenarios in Finland resulting in net climate benefits in 2050. We I) indicated substitution impacts in 2050 applying future-oriented parameter modification based on LCA, and developed quantitative target scenarios by altering wood-based product portfolios to achieve required substitution, and II) identified pathways enabling scenarios by applying participatory backcasting. In the scenarios, a major shift from primary energy use to high added-value products including textiles, chemicals, composites and advanced biofuels, or long-lifetime construction products was needed and more lifecycles for wood products by recycling were required. The actions enabling market viable environment focused on the global level policies and consumer perceptions, while actions locally were limited and current production technology development oriented. We recommend multi-target backcasting together with LCA to analyse more synergies and trade-offs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts of bioeconomy on climate have been much discussed, but less attention has been given to biodiversity deterioration. One approach to assess biodiversity impacts is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Finland is a forested country with intensive forest industries, but only coarse biodiversity LCA methods are available. The aim of this study was to further develop and apply approaches to assess the biodiversity impacts of wood use in Finland. With the species richness approach (all taxons included), biodiversity impacts were higher in Southern than in Northern Finland but impacts in Southern and Northern Finland were lower when mammals, birds and molluscs were included. With the ecosystem indicators approach, if the reference situation were forest in its natural state, biodiversity impacts were higher than in the case where the initial state of forest before final felling was used to derive biodiversity loss. In both cases, the biodiversity impacts were higher in Northern Finland. These results were not coherent as the model applying species richness data assesses biodiversity loss based on all species, whereas the ecosystem indicators approach considers vulnerable species. One limitation of the species richness approach was that there were no reliable datasets available. In the ecosystem indicators approach, it was noticed that the biodiversity of managed Finnish forests is substantially lower than in natural forests. Biodiversity LCA approaches are highly sensitive to reference states, applied model and data. It is essential to develop approaches capable of comparing biodiversity impacts of forest management practices, or when looking at multiple environmental impacts simultaneously with the LCA framework. Image 1 • A life cycle approach was applied to assess the biodiversity impacts of wood use. • Characterisation factors were developed for boreal forests. • Approaches based on different indicators are not coherent. • Biodiversity impacts depend on the reference situation, indicators and datasets. • With the models, the biodiversity impact of forest products in LCA can be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A displacement factor (DF) may be used to describe the efficiency of using wood-based products or fuels instead of fossil-based ones to reduce net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the DFs of individual products and their production volumes could not be used alone to evaluate the climate impacts of forest utilization. For this reason, in this study we have developed a methodology to assess a required displacement factor (RDF) for all wood products and bioenergy manufactured and harvested in a certain country in order to achieve zero CO 2 equivalent emissions from increased forest utilization over time in comparison with a selected baseline harvesting scenario. Input data for calculations were produced with the simulation model, Monsu, capable of predicting the carbon stocks of forests and wood-based products. We tested the calculations in Finnish conditions in a 100-year time horizon and estimated the current average DF of manufactured wood-based products and fuels in Finland for the interpretation of RDF results. The results showed that if domestic wood harvesting will be increased by 17–33% compared to the basic scenario, the RDF will be 2.0 to 2.4 tC tC−1 for increased wood use in 2017–2116. However, the estimated average DF of manufactured wood-based products and fuels currently in Finland was less than 1.1 tC tC−1. The results indicate strongly that the increased harvesting intensity from the current situation would represent a challenge for the Finnish forest-based bioeconomy from the viewpoint of climate change mitigation. For this reason, there is an immediate need to improve reliability and applicability of the RDF approach by repeating corresponding calculations in different circumstances and by improving estimations of DF s on country levels. • Displacement factor (DF) describes the substitution climate impact of wood use. • We estimated required displacement factor (RDF) to achieve zero emissions. • RDF should be 2.0–2.4 tC tC−1 for increased wood use in 2017–2116 in Finland. • RDF appears greater than the estimated current average DF. • This is a threat for forest-based bioeconomy from the climate change viewpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There is a long tradition of sustainable forest policy in Finland. Today, forests should be managed on the basis of the principles of sustainable forestry. However, economics have driven such forestry practices, resulting in dramatic changes to the natural structure and dynamics of Finnish forests. Commercial forests should, however, also provide habitats for various organisms, and forestry activities should not reduce forest biodiversity. Indicators can provide useful information on the ecological status and trends in sustainable forestry, such information can then be used by decision-makers. In attempts to develop accurate and reliable indicators, it has been suggested that statistical data, inventory data and data on many taxa may prove useful. The richness of game species and the abundance of the Siberian flying squirrel have been considered as candidate indicators for sustainable forestry. Indicators of sustainable forestry are commonly used separately and the interrelations between the ecological, economic and social dimensions of forestry have rarely been studied. In this paper we examine associations between the abundance of animal species (16 game species and Siberian flying squirrels) and their co-occurrence with forest structural characteristics that are considered to be indicators of sustainable forestry. We were also interested in examining regional patterns of the variables, and determining which socio-economic indicators and land-use factors were associated (positively or negatively) with areas of forest for which there were indicators suggesting a good ecological condition. The study area consisted of 39 observation units. Based on our exploratory and descriptive analyses we suggest that using indices for different wildlife species groups and relative abundances of the Siberian flying squirrel together with forest structural characteristics and adequate socio-cultural variables could provide relevant information about trends in sustainable forestry. The application of indicators always depends on socio-cultural contexts and biogeographical factors, and these must be taken into consideration when making predictions or comparing different regions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]