Stop clear-cutting B.C. forests to burn for energy abroad, urge advocates in an open letter

A group of environmental organizations, scientists and forest advocates are sounding the alarm on the expansion of clear-cutting Canada’s forests to burn for energy abroad. 

səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Territories (Vancouver, BC) — A group of environmental organizations, scientists and forest advocates are sounding the alarm on the expansion of clear-cutting Canada’s forests to burn for energy abroad. 

In an open letter to Hon. Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and provincial environment ministers where industry is set to expand, signatories are demanding that the government halt any approvals of new wood pellet mills pending an independent review into the industry’s escalating logging activities.

Signatories include; David Suzuki, Stand.earth, Environmental Defence, Fridays for Future, Wilderness Committee, Sierra Club BC, Ontario Nature, Citizens Climate Lobby Canada, Force of Nature Alliance, Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), Mighty Earth, Biofuelwatch, Conservation North and more.

“The world is in a climate crisis and that demands a recognition that we must reduce carbon additions to the atmosphere,” said David Suzuki, Emeritus Professor, University of British Columbia. “Wood pellets must still be burned and liberate carbon so they cannot be part of the strategy to reduce the climate threat.”

Wood pellets are often falsely pegged by industry and government as a climate solution. A report released earlier this year by Stand.earth documents how wood pellets (‘biomass’) are being made from whole trees sourced in British Columbia’s inland rainforests. They are then exported to overseas markets like the UK and Japan where they are burned for power generation. Burning biomass emits more greenhouse gases than burning coal, and research demonstrates that net emissions can remain elevated for over a century. 

“Forest destruction is a key threat to achieving international climate goals, and we know that wood-burning biomass is dirtier than coal at the smokestack. The UK government is currently using taxpayer money to subsidise Drax into destroying Canadian forests for dirty energy. In no world where survival of people and the planet is possible, is this a solution to climate change,” said Maya Menezes, Senior Forest Campaigner, Stand.earth.

“In the wake of the latest IPCC report findings, the science is clearer than ever: now is the time to be protecting forests as part of a global solution to the climate crisis. Forests are the world’s best offence and defence when it comes to climate action.”

The use of wood pellets for “renewable” energy production has grown due the provision of massive subsidies both by Canada and by importing countries; specifically the United Kingdom. In fact, Canada is now the world’s second largest exporter of wood pellets. Unfortunately, flawed emissions accounting and devastating impacts on forests mean that this industry is one of the most polluting in the world. 

Canada and British Columbia are subsidizing the development of wood pellet exports and touting them as a carbon neutral climate solution. The reality is that this ‘solution’ is based on faulty carbon accounting, poor scientific evidence, and weak regulations, and fails to protect primary and old growth forests or species habitat. 

The momentum to stop the wood pellet industry in its tracks is brewing around the world. A letter from 500 scientists to world leaders in February this year called for an end to policies that prop up the burning of trees for energy because it poses “a double climate problem” that threatens forests’ biodiversity and efforts to stem the planet’s ecological emergency. In March, a range of global NGOs released an open letter to Drax shareholders urging them to vote against the acquisition of Pinnacle Renewable Energy, which has significant wood pellet facilities in Canada–especially in B.C.

Stand.earth is calling on the provincial governments to stop subsidizing the wood pellet industry and to work with Indigenous Nations and local communities to expand protection for intact, primary and old growth forests before it is too late.

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Media contacts: 

Ziona Eyob, Canadian Communications Manager, canmedia@stand.earth, +1 604 757 7279 (Pacific Time)