{"id":13169,"date":"2026-07-01T11:35:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merronbrook.co.uk\/news\/?p=13169"},"modified":"2026-07-01T11:35:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:35:47","slug":"precision-in-timber-carbon-accounting-certification-isnt-the-whole-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merronbrook.co.uk\/news\/precision-in-timber-carbon-accounting-certification-isnt-the-whole-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Precision in timber carbon accounting: Certification isn\u2019t the whole story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sustainably certified forests play a vital role in responsible timber sourcing. But sustainability certification and carbon performance are not the same thing.<\/p>\n

Timber is increasingly promoted as a low-carbon building solution, but not all \u201csustainable\u201d forests deliver the same long-term carbon outcomes. Two forests can both be FSC or PEFC certified and still deliver materially different long-term carbon outcomes. Carbon sequestration is continuous, variable, and highly consequential, while certification is fundamentally binary.<\/p>\n

The carbon credentials of timber products rely in part on the future recovery and sequestration performance of the forests they come from. Differences in forestry performance directly influence the amount of carbon ultimately stored in construction projects, meaning that simple certification labels are not enough to guarantee climate impact.<\/p>\n

As our Technical Director, Andy Gibson<\/a>, explains, it is important to distinguish between operational sustainability and actual carbon performance. Introducing more granular forestry EPC-style carbon-performance measures may help the construction industry make increasingly sophisticated carbon claims with greater confidence.<\/p>\n

Architects, developers, and construction companies looking to make credible low-carbon claims need to consider both certification and carbon-performance assumptions \u2013 combining the two at the certification stage would support these decision-makers. As the industry\u2019s carbon accounting becomes more sophisticated, transparent and nuanced, assessment of forestry outcomes will strengthen the credibility of timber, support responsible specification and lead to better carbon accounting in construction.<\/p>\n

Read the full article here: Can a forest be \u2018sustainable\u2019 and still underperform on carbon? Rethinking forestry certification schemes in a climate emergency<\/a><\/span><\/strong>
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Our \u201cCan a forest be \u2018sustainable\u2019 and still underperform on carbon?\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/span> PDF summarises the key article takeaways in a simple, visual way:<\/p>\n\n\t\t