Forests at the Heart of Real Climate Action

Australia’s new emissions reduction target of 62–70% by 2035 is ambitious, but achievable – if we get forests right. Meeting this goal depends on a massive boost in land-based carbon removals, and the Agriculture and Land Sector Climate plan recognises the major role of forests. Healthy, well-managed forests are our most powerful natural tool for absorbing and storing carbon from the atmosphere. Put simply, we must grow more trees. But for that to work, we need policy grounded in science and honesty.

Forests aren’t static museums. As they age, carbon uptake slows and natural disturbances like fires, storms, drought and dieback can turn them from carbon sinks into carbon sources. The Black Summer fires alone released emissions equal to 35% of Australia’s entire greenhouse gas inventory in 2020. These events are exacerbated by the reality that our protected area network is chronically underfunded, resulting in passive reservation that reduces capacity for forest management and leaves forests more vulnerable. Active, science-based management including thinning, cultural and prescribed burning, and restoration of degraded areas can help forests stay resilient and reduce catastrophic carbon losses.

That’s why advice from the Climate Change Authority (CCA) is concerning. The CCA suggests that “stopping old-growth clearing and reducing native forest harvesting” are priority climate actions. However, logging of old-growth forests has already been phased out across most of Australia for many years. Under 4% of old growth in Tasmania remains available for timber harvesting. Prioritising action on small-scale activities to reach Australia’s emissions target may provide easy “wins” politically, but risks distracting from where the real gains can occur and make a significant difference. Further, reducing local sustainable regrowth native timber harvesting doesn’t cut emissions when considering the full life cycle of timber – it increases our reliance on imports and substitute products, often creating a higher carbon footprint. That’s leakage, not mitigation.

Let’s not forget that wood has a significant role to play. Sustainably harvested timber continues storing carbon long after it leaves the forest, while displacing carbon-intensive materials like steel, aluminium and concrete. Use of wood residues in biochar and biofuels can improve agricultural productivity, replace coal in industrial processes and offset emissions in hard to abate sectors like transport. These substitution benefits of wood are well established and globally recognised, yet the CCA largely ignores them. That omission undermines one of the clearest opportunities we have for real, lasting emissions reduction.

Globally, sustainably managed forests and wood products are recognised as critical to reaching net zero. If Australia is serious about its target, we must fully embrace the role for all forests. This means halting deforestation, expanding plantations and trees on farms, and restoring degraded forests to support resilient landscapes. It also means making greater use of local wood to build a low-carbon bioeconomy for generations to come.

The scale of the challenge is immense. The plan indicates that reforestation alone will need to sequester more than 100 Mt of CO₂-e each year by 2050. That means up to 10 million hectares of new trees in just 25 years. At current rates of about 20,000 hectares per year, we’re at just 5% of what’s needed. A step change in policy is essential. We need more trained forestry capacity and new approaches involving local governments, farmers, Indigenous communities, NGOs, large private investors and the forest industry supported by effective extension services.

Forestry Australia calls for a national dialogue to develop policy settings that enable forests to play their full role in climate action while delivering the timber needed to address the housing crisis. Australia cannot afford to base its climate future on myths and misplaced priorities.

Dr Michelle Freeman
President, Forestry Australia

This opinion piece was published in The Mercury on 13 October 2025, The Weekly Times on 2 October 2025, and Daily Timber News in early October 2025.