| Authors | Holmgren and Strömgren |
| Country | Skogforsk (Research note) |
| Paper (PDF) | View paper |
| Category | Protection & compliance › Remote sensing & mapping |
uses: 1. value chain emissions 2. prevented emissions 3. changes of carbon stored in forests and 4. changes of carbon stored in wood-based products
0
The CLEAR (Climate and Land use Effects Assessment and Reporting) model is a methodological framework designed to help companies — including those in the forest products, agriculture, and land management sectors — systematically assess, quantify, and report their net climate effects, going beyond conventional greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting to incorporate land-use change, biogenic carbon cycles, and ecosystem service dynamics. Unlike standard carbon footprint methodologies that focus primarily on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions under frameworks such as the GHG Protocol, the CLEAR model integrates the temporal dynamics of forest carbon stocks, wood product carbon storage, substitution effects from replacing fossil-intensive materials with timber, and the climate implications of land-use decisions over time. This is particularly relevant for forestry companies, where harvesting and replanting cycles create complex, time-varying carbon balance profiles that are poorly represented by static annual emission inventories. The model accounts for the fact that sustainably managed forests act as both carbon sinks (through growth) and temporary sources (at harvest), and that the net climate effect of a forest enterprise depends critically on rotation length, product mix, end-of-life fate of wood products, and counterfactual land-use scenarios. In the Australian forestry sector, where native forest harvesting, plantation management, and carbon farming under the Emissions Reduction Fund intersect, the CLEAR model provides a more nuanced basis for climate reporting than simple tonne-CO2-equivalent accounting. Companies using such frameworks can better demonstrate the climate benefits of sustainable wood production relative to alternative land uses or building materials, and are better positioned to respond to investor, regulator, and customer demands for transparent, science-based climate disclosures aligned with emerging international standards such as the ISSB IFRS S2 climate reporting framework.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Company | Holmgren and Strömgren |
| Country | Skogforsk (Research note) |
| Type | Paper |
| Year | 2024 |
| FWPA RD&E | 1.2 |