The question is rhetorical. The answer, of course, is: “No!”
It makes no difference whether we are sitting at the dinner table beneath a roof carried on wooden beams, reading a book on the sofa or stroking our phone on the porcelain throne – wood is all around us. Inseparable, taken for granted, like air, water and warmth. So it has always been and always will be.
And far more than that. The world is changing rapidly and irreversibly. The fossil economy is being told a slow but firm “No”! Why? The moment when oil and gas simply run out is drawing inexorably closer. The alternative is the bioeconomy, in which wood as a resource plays first fiddle – in time it will replace everything we currently obtain from oil. We can be glad that Europe is developing as the world leader in the bioeconomy and the circular economy – it is not only our home, but also the main market for the products we make.
That is why we must ask ourselves a quite different and far more important question. Do we want these everyday wood products, ever more in demand across Europe, to be made in Latvia? To provide the jobs, the taxes and the investment that increase the well-being of society? Our answer is “Yes!” We do not want to go down the destructive “Russian gas” road, deepening our dependence – in wood products too, in our own country and in Europe – on imports from distant and not always friendly states. We do not want to be buyers and supplicants, however much someone may wish to convince us that this is the “right” thing. We are producers and innovators!
Latvia's most valuable natural resource is our fertile land. We have every precondition to be the world's leading region in the bioeconomy. But for that to happen, fertile land must be used efficiently, and wood processing must aim for the highest possible level of added value.
Officials in the corridors of Brussels are increasingly taking the path of bureaucratic regulation, including in nature conservation and in meeting climate targets. We support an understanding of balanced sustainability, but we absolutely do not accept a uniform, Europe-wide approach that directly limits our right to be masters of our own land. Environmental protection and climate goals cannot be achieved in the same way in the south and in the north of the continent. We must act locally, understanding the present situation and the future opportunities in each region and each country.
That is why Latvia's decisions must be based on local scientific research. It cannot be carried out by individual “experts”, nor can it be done as a campaign or arrived at through political deals in a pre-election atmosphere. Only scientific institutions with a long history of research into the economy and land use are able to provide objective data and conclusions. We trust science, not assumptions.
It is time for bold and well-considered decisions FOR Latvia's economic viability and for the well-being and security of society. All of us – politicians, officials, entrepreneurs, and representatives of education and science – must work together to advance the development of the local bioeconomy, because it IS Latvia's opportunity. We must not place ourselves in the position of the loser.
“No to oil – yes to wood!”
This is our message – to Latvia, to Europe, to the world! It is our opportunity and our responsibility towards the generations to come.
Latvijas Meža īpašnieku biedrība, Chair of the Board Arnis Muižnieks
Latvijas Kokrūpniecības federācija, Vice-President Kristaps Klauss
AS “Latvijas Finieris”, Chair of the Supervisory Board Uldis Biķis
AS “Latvijas valsts meži”, Chair of the Board Pēters Putniņš