How can bamboo contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goal 13?

A bamboo forest

Bamboo is a plant that contributes to sustainable development. It combats climate change and can be considered, across the globe, as an ally to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goal 13. Read on to find out why.

What is UN Sustainable Development Goal 13?

In 2020 the global average temperature was 1.2 *C above the pre-industrial baseline. The world has further witnessed a dramatic rise in greenhouse gas emissions over recent years.

Global warming is a real problem to solve, and 125 of 154 developing countries are formulating national climate adaptation plans for sustainable development.

Sustainable Development Goal 13 is one of the 17 goals to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

How can bamboo help?

Bamboo is a grass used in many countries to counter the effects of global warming. According to INBAR, considering bamboo in climate change policies and rural development investments can help countries achieve UN Development Goal 13 faster.

INBAR's research has revealed bamboo can be an ally to combat climate change due to its carbon storage ability, the possibility to use it to produce energy, its resistance as a building material and the power it has to alleviate deforestation.

● Carbon storage

It has been demonstrated by INBAR´s research that bamboo has a higher carbon storage capacity than other plants. This is because bamboo, is in fact, a grass, not a tree. Bamboo grows fast, and its high yield accumulates carbon quickly and effectively, using an extensive root system that endures annual harvesting.

Bamboo is a fast-regenerating resource. Once mature, it can be selectively harvested each year and used for a wide range of durable products – like a sustainable pulp for the tissue and hygiene industry.

● Source of bioenergy

Bamboo biomass is a source of green energy. Bamboo generates electricity in some countries like India instead of conventional biomass, like fuelwood and charcoal. Furthermore, an estimated 2.6 billion people already use bamboo biomass energy for cooking and heating – with a level of demand that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. In Ghana and Ethiopia, bamboo is already an alternative to timber charcoal in the region.

Find out how bamboo bioproducts intend to use bamboo biomass our project in Jamaica here.

● Building material

Bamboo replaces some building materials. Bamboo as a building material is convenient for its strength, flexibility and fire resistance. Bamboo has been used as a replacement for concrete to build scaffolding, bridges, structures and houses.

● Reforestation

Deforestation can be alleviated with the help of bamboo as it is the fastest growing plant in the world and, at the same time, one that produces more oxygen than trees. Its capacity for land restoration and its ability to store carbon are key for reforestation.

Bamboo also prevents soil erosion, regulates groundwater recharge and purifies water. Simply put, it is like a green-gold in terms of saving the planet!

Bamboo Bioproducts Sustainability Practices

At bamboo bioproducts, sustainability and responsibility are integral to our practices. We will farm bamboo from our sustainably managed forests for the resource-efficient production of our bamboo pulp. We will further produce significant amounts of renewable energy and other biofuel from our residual biomass that can replace fossil-based raw materials too.

Our bamboo pulp will be sold to global corporations to produce greener tissue and hygiene bioproducts. Bamboo bioproducts will be the first bamboo pulp mill outside of Asia that offers sustainable solutions for the global consumer tissue and personal hygiene industry.

Find out more about our sustainability practices here