Charles, the Prince of Wales, has issued an urgent appeal for forests at the historic international climate change talks this week — and with good reason. Mismanagement of forest resources accounts for up to a quarter of all man-made climate change, and healthy forests will be an essential component of any sustainable global solution to the greatest challenge of our times — an urgency which only underlines the glaring omission of any talk of a healthy industrial hemp industry as a key component of any global solution.

In the United States, the construction and powering of buildings represents 39% of all of the country’s contribution to man-made climate change, due to the fact that the vast majority of new American construction is still stuck in the 20th century. The materials used to erect these edifices are a major source of the problem: steel and concrete both require the emission of vast tons of carbon dioxide, while the production of lumber decimates the forests the world ecosystem desperately needs to breathe. By contrast, a single 3’x3′ section of wall made from hemp building materials can sequester as much as 80 pounds of CO2. Switching over to an already proven building technology which has been in use since the time of the pharaohs could instantly turn one of the largest sources of carbon emissions into a carbon sink.

Yet the benefits of hemp construction do not end there. Researchers at the University of Bath are conducting promising research into the superior benefits of hemp materials for insulating buildings, so they are more resistant to moisture and need far less energy to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Professor Pete Walker, who heads the research project, has hypothesized that hemp houses could thus have a “better than zero” carbon footprint.

Imagine. The building you’re sitting in now could be actively reversing climate change. Instead of being part of the problem, it could be part of the solution. Yet, so far, hemp has not been part of the discussion.

NOTE: The World Hemp Quarter, a gathering of hemp industrialists, will meet in Paris on December 5-6 at the World Village of Alternatives.