Lumber, especially softwood lumber like pine and spruce, is critical to U.S. home construction. Its availability and price directly affect housing costs and broader economic activity in the building sector. The U.S. imports about 40% of the softwood lumber the nation uses each year, more than 80% of that from Canada. President Donald Trump says that the U.S. has the capacity to meet 95% of softwood lumber demand and directed federal officials to update policies and regulatory guidelines to expand domestic timber harvesting and curb the arrival of foreign lumber. On Sept. 29, 2025, he announced new tariffs on imported timber and wood products, including an additional 10% tariff on Canadian lumber. Those were added to 35% tariffs imposed on Canadian lumber in August. It was the latest phase in a long-standing dispute over the supply of lumber to builders in the U.S., which dates back to the 1980s, when U.S. producers began arguing that Canadian companies were benefiting from unfair subsidies from their government. Starting on Oct. 15, Canadian softwood lumber imports could face tariffs exceeding 45%....
The fund will invest in sustainable forestry projects across Europe, including reforestation, forest conservation, and carbon credit programmes. These investments are designed to combat climate change, enhance biodiversity, and deliver attractive financial returns. The initiative aligns with growing investor demand for strategies that combine environmental and financial objectives. New Forests, which manages $9.5bn in assets globally, has established itself as a leader in impact investing. The firm's approach prioritises environmental benefits while generating value for investors. This fund represents another step in its mission to support a net-zero future through innovative forestry solutions. The successful first close underscores the increasing interest in sustainable investments and the vital role forestry can play in tackling climate challenges. New Forests' commitment to impact-driven strategies continues to resonate with institutional investors seeking long-term, sustainable returns....
Envisioning a climate-stable future requires a dual strategy as far as the world's forests are concerned: protecting and restoring natural forests for all of their ecological and climate benefits while also sustainably managing working forests to drive the global transformation to a sustainable, circular bioeconomy. Many are uncomfortable at the thought of cutting down a tree. While wood is a useful material, people don't like the idea that it should be harvested from a forest. In a 2017 study commissioned by the North American Forest Partnership, nearly four out of five respondents thought wood was a renewable material; however, fewer than one in five associated the forest sector with sustainability. That's an unfortunate misconception and in our current era of climate disasters, it's becoming a dangerous one. The reality is that sustainable forestry and forest products can help us save the planet from ourselves. Here are five ways how. The forest sector holds both the responsibility and opportunity to advance some of the solutions the world needs to minimize waste and ensure nature thrives ' putting it on the frontline of climate action....
Every year, Americans buy somewhere between 35 million and 50 million Christmas trees, and many more pull an artificial tree out of storage for the season. In all, about three-quarters of U.S. households typically have some kind of Christmas tree, surveys show. When Christmas trees are alive and growing, they pull carbon dioxide from the air and use it as the building blocks of their wood. That keeps the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere, where too much carbon dioxide contributes to global warming. If you live in Mississippi, like I do, buying a noble fir (Abies procera) means your tree probably came from the Pacific Northwest. That's a long drive, and transportation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. However, in a truck with several hundred trees, each individual tree's transportation emissions are pretty minor. The most common Christmas tree varies by region: Douglas-fir is also common throughout the Mountain West. Scotch pine and balsam fir are regularly grown in the Great Lakes states. Fraser fir is also popular there but dominant in North Carolina. Leyland cypress and Virginia pine are common in the Southeast....
