Let's start with two facts: one well-known, the other less so.

Fact one: The planet is getting hotter. The Met Office predicted recently that 2019 is likely to be one of the warmest on record and that would mean 19 of the hottest-ever years have been since 2000.

Fact two: Planting trees and making timber products is one of the cheapest, simplest methods of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon.

These two facts are not unrelated.

Thankfully, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), official adviser to the UK and devolved governments, has made the link. It says tackling climate change is no longer about limiting emissions; we must remove carbon from the atmosphere to meet our targets – and forestry and wood is one "simple, low-cost option" to make real progress.

Environmental organisations are getting the message too. Friends of the Earth has called for a doubling of UK tree cover (currently 13 per cent, barely a third of the European average) to make a real impact - and as the body representing forestry and wood-using businesses across the UK, Confor has made forests, wood and climate change its priority for 2019.

When people hear the phrase Carbon Capture and Storage, I want them to think tree planting and using wood. Other options (including pumping carbon under the sea bed) are often unproven and costly. Tree planting is simple, proven and cost-effective; the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation calculated it was less than US$20 per tonne of CO2.

A report for Confor looking at forestry in southern Scotland estimated that a hectare of woodland delivered carbon benefits of 7.3 tonnes of CO2 every year, slightly more than a person’s average annual emissions of 7.1 tonnes.

Locking up carbon in wood products is not just good in itself - it also replaces far more energy-intensive materials. The Forestry Commission estimated that between 0.7 and 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide are saved because of the lower energy consumption involved in the manufacture of wood products, compared with materials like concrete or brick.

Wood also gives us warm homes. In terms of thermal insulation, it is 15 times better than concrete, 400 times better than steel and 1770 times better than aluminium.

The Herald: A hectare of woodland can offset more than the CO2 of an individual for one year.A hectare of woodland can offset more than the CO2 of an individual for one year.

Growing more of our own wood is also imperative; around 80 per cent of UK wood products are imported, making us the second highest net importer in the world after China! We must take more responsibility for our supply chains, growing trees here under the world’s highest sustainability standards, not exporting our environmental footprint to fragile global forests.

Planting modern forests also gives us more than carbon-sequestering trees that will produce renewable supplies of carbon-storing timber. We also create green jobs (more than 25,000 people in Scotland are employed in forestry and wood processing), enhance biodiversity, help reduce flood risks and increase recreation and tourism opportunities.

We demonstrated these multiple benefits to Scottish Government Minister Mairi Gougeon when she visited the Jerah planting site in central Scotland last week - especially the way trees planted on the hill can reduce flooding in the community below.  A study is being carried out by Heriot Watt University to learn lessons for future large-scale planting sites.

I'm encouraged by the progress Scotland is making on new woodland creation. Confor worked hard to streamline bureaucracy and create a positive message about modern, multi-purpose and mixed-species forestry - and Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, is a passionate supporter of modern forestry and the economic, environmental and social benefits, which can go hand in hand.

A positive partnership between the Scottish Government, forestry and wood processing sector and wider rural interests has created a much better climate for productive tree planting. Last year, Scotland planted around 80 per cent of all new UK forests and has much more ambitious (but very achievable) targets for woodland creation than the rest of the UK.

Scotland's Forestry Strategy, published earlier this month, re-affirms that positive approach to delivering multiple benefits by planting more forests. Encouragingly, it calls for tree planting and woodland creation and maintenance to become a "shared national endeavour".

This approach fits perfectly with Scotland's desire to lead the way on climate change - setting a high bar for reducing emissions and leaping over it. If tackling climate change has been a golden thread of policy over the last decade and more, then forestry is the green gold in that thread - an environmentally and economically friendly industry which can help Scotland deliver on its climate change ambitions.

Yet our climate change ambitions and responsibilities are not, and can not, be limited to our shores. Our approach has to be international. To make a real difference on climate change, let's think global - and plant local.

Stuart Goodall is Chief Executive of Confor, and The Herald's Climate for Change guest editor. This article appeared in The Herald on the 28th February 2019. For more information about the role Confor play in climate change, you can visit their website www.confor.org.uk

The Herald:

The Herald’s Climate for Change initiative supports efforts being made by the Scottish Government with key organisations and campaign partners. Throughout the year we will provide a forum in The Herald newspaper, online at herald.scotland.com and in Business HQ magazine, covering news and significant developments in this increasingly crucial area.

If you are interested in contributing editorially or interested in becoming a Climate for Change partner, please contact Stephen McTaggart on 0141 302 6137 or email stephen.mctaggart@heraldandtimes.co.uk