Industry Services
Industry Services
Stuart Goodall examines how UK forestry, carbon accounting and construction policy are converging, highlighting the central role of productive forestry and the need for clearer signals to support long-term supply chain investment.
UK policy is moving beyond viewing forests as static carbon sinks. Well-managed, productive forests operate as part of a continuous carbon cycle, sequestering carbon in the forest, storing it in harvested wood products and reducing emissions through material substitution.
This is not a theoretical distinction. It goes to the heart of how the UK delivers climate targets in practice.
The inclusion of harvested wood products in national greenhouse gas inventories, in line with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidance, reflects growing recognition that carbon benefits extend beyond the forest itself, particularly where timber is used in construction [1].
Productive forestry is therefore not simply compatible with climate objectives; it is essential to delivering them at scale. Without it, the UK cannot increase woodland cover while also supplying the timber needed to decarbonise the built environment.
Policy has not yet fully caught up with this system view. Carbon is still often assessed in silos – forestry, construction and energy – limiting the visibility of timber’s full contribution.
The publication of the Timber in Construction Roadmap 2025 marked an important step forward. It recognises that increasing timber use in buildings is fundamental to net zero delivery and to strengthening domestic supply chains [2].
This aligns with the wider adoption of whole-life carbon approaches across the built environment. Frameworks supported by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are increasingly used to assess both embodied emissions and stored carbon [3].
However, there remains inconsistency in how substitution effects are quantified and applied. The carbon benefit of timber depends on what it replaces, how it is used and how long it remains in service. Without a consistent and widely adopted methodology, timber’s contribution risks being undervalued in policy, planning and procurement.
Policy direction is improving but it now needs to translate into consistent application.
Woodland creation targets remain ambitious across the UK, but delivery has been uneven. Recent planting rates continue to fall short of stated ambitions, reinforcing the gap between policy intent and delivery [4].
At the same time, the UK remains heavily reliant on imported timber and was the second-largest net importer of forest products globally in 2023 [5]. Reducing that dependence is not simply a trade issue, it is central to carbon performance, supply resilience, rural economic growth and now national security [6].
Timber is a strategic material underpinning housing delivery, infrastructure, energy transition and economic resilience. The UK’s current 80% timber import dependency creates systemic exposure across multiple government priorities.
Productive forestry depends on a functioning supply chain. That requires:
Confidence in future markets: landowners must have assurance that timber will retain value at harvest
Processing capacity: sawmilling and manufacturing must expand in line with resource growth
Appropriate species mix: resilience and biodiversity must be balanced with productive output
Forest Research data shows significant volumes of UK-grown roundwood already entering processing, but future increases in supply will only support construction demand if processing and manufacturing capacity are developed in parallel [4].
Without sustained investment in domestic processing capacity, the UK risks expanding woodland resource without fully reducing its structural dependence on imports and the national security risk that brings.
Forestry is attracting new capital, driven by carbon markets and land diversification. Mechanisms such as the UK Woodland Carbon Code have played a role in enabling woodland creation within a robust and credible framework [7].
However, carbon-led investment can, without careful alignment, incentivise woodland creation models that are less closely connected to long-term timber production, national security and supply chain needs.
Productive forestry requires active management – harvesting, replanting and ongoing stewardship – not simply the accumulation of carbon stock. Ensuring that new woodland contributes to future timber supply is critical to maintaining a resilient forest-to-construction system.
Encouragingly, construction demand is beginning to provide a stronger countersignal. As whole-life carbon approaches become embedded in planning and specification, timber is increasingly recognised as a practical route to reducing emissions.
Policy now needs to continue aligning these signals so that carbon markets and material demand reinforce, rather than compete with, productive forestry.
There is now clear convergence across UK policy:
Recognition of timber in climate delivery: forestry and construction are increasingly linked within net zero strategies [8]
Integration of carbon accounting: harvested wood products and whole-life carbon are gaining traction [9]
Focus on domestic supply chains: resilience and security of supply are back on the agenda
The priority is to translate this convergence into delivery.
Three areas require particular focus:
Consistent carbon methodologies: including clearer and standardised treatment of substitution effects and long-term carbon storage
Joined-up policy frameworks: aligning forestry, planning and construction so that planting, regulation and procurement support the same outcomes
Investment in processing capacity: ensuring domestic timber supply can meet growing demand from construction
Forestry operates on multi-decade timescales. Landowners and investors need confidence that timber will remain central to UK construction and climate policy over the long term.
The UK has an opportunity to take a more coherent, system-wide approach to carbon and materials.
Productive forestry should be recognised as a core part of the UK’s infrastructure, delivering carbon sequestration, low-carbon materials and economic activity across rural and industrial supply chains. But this only works if the full system is supported, from planting through to end use.
That requires stable, long-term policy signals and a clear commitment to increasing the use of home-grown timber in construction.
Policy direction is improving. The next step is delivery, ensuring that ambition on woodland creation, carbon and construction continues to translate into measurable outcomes across the forest-to-construction supply chain.
[1] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, (2019).
[2] HM Government. Timber in Construction Roadmap 2025, (2025).
[3] Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Whole life carbon assessment for the built environment, (2nd edition, 2023).
[4] Forest Research. Forestry Statistics 2025 and woodland creation data, (2025).
[5] Forest Research. Forestry Statistics 2025, (2025). New woodland creation: 15,580 ha in 2024/25; UK roundwood deliveries: 10.4 million green tonnes in 2024.
[6] Confor. Timber: An issue of national security and economic resilience, (2026).
[7] Woodland Carbon Code. Woodland Carbon Code Guidance, (latest version).
[8] HM Government. Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener, (2021).
[9] DESNZ. UK greenhouse gas emissions statistics, including harvested wood products accounting, (latest version).
[10] Climate Change Committee. Land use: Policies for a net zero UK, (2020).
[11] Confor. Forestry and wood processing sector briefings and policy submissions, (2022–2025).
