President Donald Trump is promising to unleash the US timber industry by allowing companies to raze swaths of federally protected national forests.
The executive order — which calls for the ramping up of the domestic timber production to avoid reliance on "foreign producers" — was followed three days later by sweeping 25% tariffs on Canadian products, including lumber.
The United States has an "abundance of timber resources that are more than adequate to meet our domestic timber production needs," the executive order says.
However, it's more complex than simply swapping out Canadian imports for homegrown timber, said industry experts, who warned tariffs could end up increasing lumber and building costs — and even push up housing prices for consumers.
Meanwhile, environmental groups say clearcutting national forests will pollute the air and water, endanger wildlife and exacerbate climate change. "Trump's order will unleash the chainsaws and bulldozers on our beautiful, irreplaceable federal forests," said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
"This is a particularly horrific move by Trump to loot our public lands by handing the keys to the kingdom over to big business," Spivak said.
Tap the link in @cnnclimate bio for more.
📸 : Amanda Loman/AP/File, Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis News/Getty Images, Mario Tama/Getty Images
A recent survey shows that most large businesses are failing to incorporate climate risks into new construction projects. This exposes developments to flood and extreme weather damage while undermining efforts to reach net zero Whole Life Carbon. Insurers are increasingly pressing for resilience planning, and the lack of a Whole Life Carbon Assessment in early project stages leaves significant risks unaddressed. Developers treating Embodied Carbon as a marginal issue face higher long-term costs rather than true Life Cycle Cost control.
Institutional capital is rapidly shifting towards sustainable construction, moving beyond climate risk debates to fund resilience and low carbon design. This trend is unlocking investment in sustainable building design and net zero carbon buildings, aligning financial flows with environmental sustainability in construction. For developers, demonstrating life cycle thinking in construction and proving reduced Embodied Carbon in materials is becoming critical to accessing large-scale finance.
The University of Derby has launched the Institute of Carbonomics to advance research in reducing emissions across industries. While broader in scope, the initiative is set to influence eco-design for buildings and sustainable architecture, embedding lifecycle assessment and sustainable building practices into commercial decision-making. Its outputs are expected to shape climate-smart construction by linking resource efficiency in construction to Whole Life Carbon reduction strategies.
Private investment momentum is also growing. Gresham House’s acquisition of clean energy investor SUSI Partners increases its capacity to fund green infrastructure, net zero carbon projects, and Circular Economy in construction approaches. This creates deeper capital pools for low carbon building technologies and renewable building materials, enabling more developers to pursue carbon neutral construction without prohibitive upfront costs.
Consumer demand reinforces this momentum. Rising energy costs are driving homeowners towards energy-efficient buildings and eco-friendly construction upgrades, accelerating adoption of green building products and smart retrofitting. For construction firms, this highlights a profitable pathway where sustainable building practices align with direct financial savings, embedding sustainable material specification as a market-driven necessity.
The “Nature in Contracts” initiative, supported by the UK Green Building Council, signals growing attention to biodiversity and the environmental impact of construction within procurement frameworks. By embedding nature-positive clauses, developers are being pushed towards circular construction strategies, sustainable urban development, and environmental product declarations (EPDs). This integration signals a future where green construction becomes inseparable from legal and financial compliance, sharpening the focus on Embodied Carbon in materials and building lifecycle performance.
Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do
get in touch.
