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.
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Holcim’s NextGen Growth 2030 strategy signals a shift towards measurable sustainability in construction, embedding whole life carbon assessment and low embodied carbon materials at the core of operations. The initiative strengthens the firm’s role in decarbonising the built environment through sustainable building practices and leadership diversity. Its renewed focus on embodied carbon in materials and lifecycle assessment reflects a decisive movement towards sustainable building design that prioritises both environmental and economic performance across the whole asset lifecycle.
Across Europe, regulatory developments under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive are reshaping the carbon footprint of construction by requiring more robust reporting from major enterprises. Critics warn that diluting these frameworks could slow the drive for net zero carbon buildings, but advocates argue that strategic refinement may help accelerate adoption of circular economy principles and low carbon design. The real opportunity lies in embedding life cycle cost planning within corporate governance, making environmental sustainability in construction a measurable component of business competitiveness.
In the United Kingdom, a shortage of skilled labour capable of delivering low carbon building outcomes is emerging as a critical challenge. The latest workforce report warns that without upskilling in digital engineering, eco-design for buildings and life cycle thinking in construction, national net zero carbon ambitions risk stagnation. Investment in training that supports sustainable design and BREEAM-accredited competence is becoming as important as technological innovation. Ensuring that workforce capacity aligns with circular construction strategies and resilient infrastructure will define the success of sustainable urban development initiatives.
Innovation in resource efficiency in construction continues to gain momentum. Greyparrot’s AI-powered waste analytics platform, recently recognised among TIME’s most impactful inventions, demonstrates how circular economy in construction models are evolving. By enhancing material recovery, supporting end-of-life reuse in construction and advancing environmental product declarations (EPDs), solutions like this are helping lower the carbon footprint of construction waste systems. Such technology-driven lifecycle optimisation underpins the broader transition toward low-impact construction and data-driven whole life carbon management.
At the Sellafield site, the £2.9 billion non-nuclear infrastructure programme integrates sustainability metrics and net zero whole life carbon targets. This focus on carbon neutral construction signals a cultural shift in public-sector procurement, where sustainable material specification and low carbon construction materials are used alongside energy-efficient buildings standards. The approach links BREEAM v7 certification pathways with green building products, creating measurable outcomes in building lifecycle performance. The sector’s movement toward eco-friendly construction reflects an industry that increasingly equates innovation with accountability, embedding sustainability as both a design principle and a duty.
Collectively, these developments capture an accelerating transformation in green construction. Momentum is building towards a circular economy where renewable building materials, sustainable architecture and carbon footprint reduction define the future of the built environment. Sustainable construction is no longer a niche ambition but a global imperative, demanding precision, transparency and continuous improvement across every phase of the building lifecycle.
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