Timber industry hosts first Net Zero event in Scottish Parliament
1 May 2024
The Scottish Timber Trade Association (STTA) brought the timber industry together at Holyrood for the first time yesterday to host a reception about driving Net Zero awareness and timber’s benefits to the Scottish economy.
Along with three other leading timber organisations, Confor, Timber Development UK, and the Structural Timber Association (STA), the STTA invited more than 40 businesses operating in the timber industry supply chain across Scotland to meet with MSPs and discuss timber’s role in the Scottish economy, and its place in supporting the country’s drive to Net Zero.
The reception was sponsored by Fergus Ewing MSP and Willie Rennie MSP, who each spoke about the benefits of timber as a low-carbon construction product; how timber planting, processing, and use in construction creates skilled career opportunities and supports employment in rural areas; and how Scottish Government policies on tree planting can support the long-term future of the industry.
Alex Goodfellow, CEO of Offsite at the Fife-headquartered Donaldson Group and STA board member, also spoke about Scotland’s need to increase the production of timber as global demand grows, and to preserve jobs for the future.
Scotland’s timber Industry contributes more than £1bn to the Scottish economy per year through homegrown product alone, and it directly supports 8.7% of the entire Scottish workforce, with 13.7% of all Scottish businesses directly involved in construction.
