Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I'm pleased to meet with you today to talk about Carbone boréal. I prepared a slide show to illustrate some of the phenomena to support my remarks. I don't know if you can project it. If not, I'll fly solo, if I can put it that way.
Basically, it is scientifically well known that the increase in human greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide, contributes to climate change. This accumulation has been monitored daily at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory since 1958, and there has been an increase of more than 100 parts per million in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere during this period.
However, this increase is remarkably accompanied by an increase and decrease each year, which are always of the same magnitude and which in fact correspond to the photosynthetic activity of the northern forests: the boreal forest, the Canadian forests as well as the Russian and Scandinavian forests in particular. These forests capture carbon between the months of May and September. Then, because they are inactive in the winter, the increase in concentration varies from six parts per million in a single season, while the increase each year is about two parts per million.
So northern trees have a huge role to play, and it's a very good idea to plant more trees. There have been proposals to plant two billion trees, but that's not the way to do it, without taking into account the real contribution of these trees to the fight against climate change. First of all, we need to quantify the contribution of these trees; it's not just magical thinking. There are rules and methodologies for doing this. Each species has its own characteristics. There are still many unresolved scientific questions about the real contribution of the forest in increasing carbon stocks.
Certainly, planting trees where there are none increases the carbon sink and carbon stocks. However, for this to be integrated into a quantified climate change proposal, the species must be known and planted in such a way that their carbon capture can be measured and reported in a standardized way. In addition, we need to make choices about which species will survive climate change, because in Canada, in various regions, even if we work very hard, the average temperature will rise by three to five degrees Celsius. That means that species that are surviving well today in today's ecosystems may not survive 50 or 100 years from now.
The choice of species must also allow the trees to continue to provide the ecological services they provide to the forest. So it's important not to plant just anything, just anywhere.
Lastly, existing forest carbon stocks must be maintained. Trees shouldn't be moved or cut down because trees have been planted.
Lastly, as my colleagues at CRIBIQ have said, we need to maximize the use of forest products, not only as long-life softwood lumber, but also as a supply that competes with products made from petroleum chemicals.
To work effectively, we need more science, a long-term vision and the ability to use our resources intelligently. Carbone boréal is a research program launched in 2008, based on the afforestation hypothesis—