FRANCE - The French government will implement a new sustainability law that requires all new public buildings to feature at least 50 percent timber in their construction.

 

The law will affect all public buildings financed by the French government, reported French news outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP). It will be implemented by 2022.

 

"I impose on all the public establishments which depend on me and which make the development or the policy of land to build buildings with materials which are at least 50 percent of wood or bio-based materials,"  the country's minister for cities and housing Julien Denormandie told the AFP.

 

The law is in line with French president Emmanuel Macron's goal for the country to be carbon-neutral by 2050. The country hopes to improve its sustainability before the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris.

 

The country is hard at work on the Olympics complex, which will require any building taller than eight stories to be built totally from timber.