Dr. Eugene Hendrick:

If I may add to that, it is important to realise that forestry is an excellent way to contribute to climate change mitigation in its own right. In the international reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, forestry is recognised as a good and very cost-effective way of mitigating climate change. Basically it takes carbon out of the atmosphere and puts it into forests and forest products, and allows us to use the product again for energy substitution.

In the Irish context, that recognition is being acted upon through the afforestation programme. It is recognition of the role that forests play in mitigating climate change. It takes place over a long period. It takes 35 to 40 years to get the full contribution and then, as I said earlier on, the forest must be preserved to maintain the contribution over time.

In the longer run, another important point concerns forest products. It is important that we use these products wisely in the built environment and the construction sector. There are really good opportunities around those forest products in the mitigation of climate change. They allow us to substitute other materials, in terms of embedded emissions to coin a phrase, in other materials. Second, it is a carbon store in its own right that one is using. It is not just about the forest but also about the products one gets from the forest, how they are used and their energy potential. Of course, this is assuming that it is all sustainably produced, which it is, due to our policy and practice in Ireland.