Evaluation of the climate change mitigation potential of Canadian forest products

近年来，森林部门经历了衰退，这导致其通过开发新产品和新工艺进行转型。当前的气候变化背景也在推动这一转变，因为森林产品往往被认为是不可再生材料、化学品和能源的首选替代品。因此，越来越多的政策和方案旨在促进其使用，以及新产品和新工艺的开发。政府和行业需要强有力的量化工具来帮助他们确定最有效的措施，以实现温室气体减排目标，同时振兴森林部门。生命周期评估方法可用于这一目的，因为它允许比较具有相同功能的不同替代品对气候变化和其他环境问题的影响。然而，最近的文献表明，对森林产品进行的生命周期评估的严重局限性危及从这些研究中作出的决定。

In recent years, the forest sector has undergone a decline, which is leading to its transformation through the development of new products and processes. The current climate change context is also driving this transformation since forest products are often claimed to be preferred alternatives to non-renewable materials, chemicals, and energy sources. Therefore, an increasing number of policies and programs aim to promote their use, as well as the development of new products and processes. Government and industry need robust quantification tools to help them identify the most efficient measures to reach greenhouse gas emission reduction targets while revitalizing the forest sector. The life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology could be used for such a purpose as it allows comparing the impact on climate change, and on other environmental issues, resulting from different alternatives having the same function. However, recent literature has shown that serious limitations regarding LCAs conducted on forest products jeopardize decisions taken from these studies.