The cutting of 32,000 acres of boreal forests in Canada to produce toilet paper and paper towels generates more than 3.8 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, according to a new study by the Center for Sustainable Economy (CSE).
This equates to the same emissions as more than 824,000 passenger cars, or several small coal-fired plants, the study found.
The economic damage from the cutting of forests in Ontario to supply the US pulp market is valued at more than $560 million per year, or about $1,715 per tonne of pulp that crosses the border, according to the study.
‘Wasteful use’
“It’s hard to imagine a more wasteful use of carbon-rich forests. In a rational economic system, this should not be happening,” commented Dr. John Talberth, president and senior economist at CSE. “The problem is that neither Canada nor the US is putting a price on the climate and environmental damages associated with boreal forest clearcutting and factoring that price into trade and environmental policies. Our report helps lay the groundwork for doing so.”
According to the study, Canada’s forests, which were traditionally considered carbon sinks, are now net sources of emissions due to logging and other climate stress. The report calls for policy reforms to end subsidies for logging operations, instead promoting alternatives like bamboo, hemp and kenaf, which are more sustainable options for toilet paper production.
Border carbon adjustments
Among the policy tools under discussion are border carbon adjustments (BCAs), proposed in bipartisan US legislation like the PROVE IT Act, introduced by Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Chris Coons (D-DE).
“Our bipartisan PROVE IT (Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency) Act would demonstrate our advantage in clean production and make clear to consumers around the world the environmental damage caused by some emissions-intensive foreign products,” Cramer and Coons wrote in an opinion piece.
According to Talberth, the use of Canadian pulp to produce toilet paper represents an “ideal test case” for the Senators’ proposal.
“Here, a 100% tariff is justified on climate damages alone, an amount that will give US producers of non-wood paper products a leg up in markets that are now subsidised by Canada,” he said. Read more here and here.
