Ref. Ares(2022)4852640 - 03/07/2022
Ref. Ares(2022)5805250 - 18/08/2022
VIDEOCONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS
Title
Meeting with EFI Director Marc Palahi and Professor Goran Berndes,
Chalmers University of Technology
Date
24-06-2021
Participants
Ext : Marc Palahi, Goran Berndes
COM: Stefano Grassi, Laure Chapuis,
Ares initial request : (2021)3330780
Issues raised
Marc Palahi:
& follow-up
-
General reflection: Unprecedented policy situation in Europe: impacts on climate
change more drastic than ever, while at the same time: unprecedented
opportunities for the forest sector; renewable and circular bio-based solutions to
replace fossils.
-
Challenge: forests are not resilient to climate change; we will need to foster
biodiversity and help forests adapt to climate change (active forest management)
-
Biodiversity challenge for Europe: we cannot produce both woods for different
products and protect biodiversity.
-
Bioenergy and biodiversity are not opposing to each other – there are many ways
to promote both simultaneously, when bioenergy can even be good for
biodiversity.
-
JRC report: he questioned why only environmental impacts were addressed -90%
of the scenarios were not realistic at all.
-
50% of the wood used for bioenergy is coming from residues and the other half
is divided between forest residues (e.g. brunches) and specific forest for
bioenergy (e.g. thinning).
Goran Berndesthe:
-
If we focus on bioenergy, it may seem like it is a third-land use category, which
evolves in parallel with conventional agriculture and forestry. In reality,
bioenergy expansion has expressed itself as an adjustment in agriculture and
forestry.
-
How the forest management responses influences the carbon stocks: a very
common characterisation of the forest sector resource is that if the forest sector
will need more biomass less carbon stocks in the forest.
But, in reality
depending on the geographic area, this could increase demand for carbon in the
forest (incentives to extend forest areas or add new forests)
Laure Chapuis: Bioenergy should not become a new land use: This dynamic is there,
but what we see in the discussion is to try to avoid specific plantation for bioenergy.
Is it an issue that is really problematic in reality? There is this perception in the public
Stefano Grassi: what are the risks and threats for forests and biodiversity?
Goran Berndesthe:
-
There are a lot of scientific studies that suggest that removing everything
from the forest is not good
-
Avoid the intensive biomass extraction approach – clear cuts in some context
are not good
-
There should not be an intensive push for reforestation – this might lead into
potential use of agricultural areas
Document Outline
