New research shows that Canada’s logging sector is a major source of greenhouse emissions, challenging the myth of sustainable forestry.
According to the 2024 Logging Emissions Update from Nature Canada, Nature Québec, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, logging in Canada released 147 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide in 2022 — one fifth of Canada’s total reported emissions. This makes logging the third highest-emitting sector in Canada, after oil and gas (217 Mt) and transportation (156 Mt).
The report, which is based on federal government data, uses a peer-reviewed methodology. The report’s findings contradict longstanding government and industry claims that logging is sustainable and low-emission.
The federal government has for many years portrayed human activity, including logging, in Canada’s managed forest as having low — or negative — GHG emissions.
The government’s undercounting of logging emissions results from a bias in forest carbon accounting — not counting wildfire emissions but taking credit for a carbon sink resulting from natural forest regrowth after fires.
Canada’s failure to acknowledge and address the significant carbon footprint of logging threatens to undermine both its emission reduction plan and global market access for wood exports, particularly in places like the European Union, which increasingly demand truly sustainable forestry products.
The federal government must acknowledge the true carbon footprint of logging and implement measures to reduce its emissions, promoting a cleaner and more competitive forestry sector.
To learn more visit naturecanada.ca/lostinthewoods.
