Wood products, paper and pulp company Sappi Southern Africa and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) have launched the Sappi Chair in Climate Change and Plantation Sustainability.

Professor Mary Scholes is an internationally recognised authority on tree physiology and climate change and affiliated with the research platform in the Wits School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences. She will act as the Research Chair.

Through the Research Chair, Scholes is identifying critical research needs and developing research outputs related to climate change, which is one of the University’s eight research priorities. She will also lead the development of capacity to manipulate and interpret climate modelling data.

The chair will further focus on developing and mentoring young and upcoming academics and research, through the funding for one post-doctoral fellow as well as bursaries for one Masters and one Honours student.

Launched in celebration of World Environment Day, this initiative aligns with Sappi’s drive to generate technical and operational solutions which mitigate against climate change risks and to enhance reporting on carbon emissions, climate change and sustainability, the company said.

“The creation of this Chair demonstrates Sappi’s commitment to building a thriving world through strong partnerships, supporting innovation and investing in future research capabilities,” said Sappi Group head of sustainability and investor relations Tracy Wessels.

“Like all other agricultural crops, the trees in the 399 996 ha of land we own and lease are negatively impacted by climate change. While we practise climate-smart forestry and while our research teams have been hard at work developing drought-resistant genotypes, the temperatures over the South African interior are projected to rise at about 1.5 to 2 times the global rate of temperature increase.

“Additionally, there is increasing global pressure to account accurately for greenhouse gas emissions from forests, land and agriculture. Against this backdrop and in line with our commitment to UN SDG13: Climate Action, the need to develop climate solutions has intensified, which is why our sponsorship of the Sappi Chair in Climate Change and Plantation Sustainability makes sound business sense,” she said.

“We are looking forward to progressing our understanding of, and actions related to, climate change through replicable, workable methodologies,” Wessels added.

The work by Wits will help to enhance Sappi’s planning process and overall competitiveness.

“Because forestry is a long-term crop, the industry needs to know well in advance where to direct their resources and investment and needs the most accurate climate models to rely on,” says Scholes.

Sappi’s initial sponsorship of the Research Chair will run until 2026.