기후변화에 대응한 목재수급 정책과제

Abstract

1992년 유엔환경개발회의를 계기로 ‘지속가능한 개발’은 인류발전의 기본 원칙이 되었다. 자원 고갈과 폐기물의 대량배출 등 환경문제가 인류문명의 지속가능성에 어두운 그림자를 던지고 있음을 깨달았기 때문이다. 근래에는 지구온난화에 대한 우려가 커지면서 탄소배출 저감이 중요한 과제가 되고 있다. 이러한 문제에 대응하여 저탄소 순환형 사회의 구축은 지속가능한 발전을 위한 전제가 되었다. 여기에는 다양한 접근법이 있겠지만 산림관리와 목재이용 확대도 그 하나이다. 특히 목재는 적절히 관리하면 영속적으로 생산할 수 있는 재생가능한 자원이다. 목재는 그 자체에 탄소를 저장하고 있으며 제조에 투입되는 에너지가 매우 낮고 다 쓴 제품의 재이용이 용이하다. 에너지로 이용하면 화석연료를 대체할 수도 있다. 이러한 특성 때문에 주요 선진국은 목재이용 증대를 저탄소 순환형 사회 구축의 핵심과제로 삼고 있다. 공공건물이나 학교를 지을 때 목재의 사용을 장려하고, 목질 바이오매스의 에너지 이용을 추진하고 있다. 특히 국산재의 사용을 증대하는 것은 산으로 수익을 환원하여 농산촌의 지역경제 활성화에 기여할 것이다.

Wood products have many attributes that make them a smart choice when it comes to climate change. First, much of the carbon absorbed by growing trees is stored in products. Using more wood also means less fossil fuel consumption. Wood is endlessly renewable, and life cycle assessment studies show that it requires substantially less energy to manufacture than other materials such as steel and concrete. Wood buildings can be easily deconstructed and reused, which means they can continue to store carbon indefinitely. And using wood from sustainably managed forests helps to ensure that forests and their carbon storage potential continue to grow, which contribute to local community economy. This report focuses on international forest policies related to climate change and their implications to Korean forestry and the forest products sector, and some policy suggestions are made.

Climate change and climate change mitigation are currently hot topics at the international level. Forest is carbon sink but also regarded as carbon emitter when it is deforested and degraded. REDD(Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and HWP(Harvested Wood Products) are important issues at the post-Kyoto Protocol. Illegal logging is also a major issue in the wood products trade.

Major developed countries adopt wood promotion policies to tackle climate change and construct a low-carbon green economy. They promote the merits and provide some technical information when using wood.

In Korea, wood consumption is about 27 million cubic meters per year, and self-sufficiency of wood is 13.5%. Domestic wood is used to produce pulp and particle boards in large part. Poor forest resource structure, high cost in wood harvest, negative perceptions to harvest, and low infrastructures are challenging issues in domestic wood supply.

The Korean government also adopts Low Carbon Green Growth as a policy base. The demand for wood biomass energy is increasing. These are opportunities to the wood industry. But high production cost in wood harvest and the thin wood consumption culture are weaknesses. We should establish a wood promotion strategy to overcome weaknesses and exploit opportunities.

We made some policy suggestions to promote wood use as follows: 1) campaign to increase the utilization and consumption of wood in the public side 2) develop and disseminate durable wood goods, such as engineered wood 3) adopt carbon labelling to show the carbon sequestration function of wood products 4) increase wood supply through utilization of forest residues, short-rotation coppice in idle farmland, and international cooperaton 5) establish technical standards to certify the safety of wood products 6) legislate wood utilization to tackle climate change.

Researchers: Min, Kyung-Taek; Chang, Cheol-Su and Hur, Gyong-Tae E-mail address: minkt@krei.re.kr