Projections to 2050 indicate significant increases in global wood demand

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has generated new projections of world roundwood and forest product demand using the Forest Resource Outlook Model (FOROM). The projections are made for four scenarios of global climatic warming and economic growth – (1) lower warming, moderate growth; (2) high warming, low growth; (3) high warming, moderate growth; and (4) high warming, high growth – based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s four “shared socioeconomic pathways” scenarios, which assume differing climate policies.  According to the projections, world roundwood production will increase by 4–8 percent between 2022 and 2030, depending on the ...