Forests and harvested wood products (HWP) is an important part of the global carbon cycle,and can significantly affect the greenhouse gas (GHG) concentration in the atmosphere. Thus,in the last few decades,forest carbon science has become a hot research area world wild. Initial research efforts mostly focused on forest carbon stocks and stock changes,which indicated that in the last a few decades,the global forests have been a large and consistent carbon sink,absorbing 20-30 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year while also releasing more than 10 million tonnes of carbon through deforestation and forest degradation. The global forest carbon balance appeared differently: in countries such as the United States,Canada,China,and countries from the European Union,afforestation and reforestation have resulted in increased total forest areas and thus increased forest carbon stocks. But deforestation in South and Central America,Africa,and South and Southeast Asia has caused significant reduction in the total forest areas and forest carbon stocks. The second research focus has been HWP carbon dynamics. At a global scale,HWP carbon stocks are much smaller when compared with forest carbon stocks. But consistent HWP carbon stock increases can have important implications on the mitigation potential of the forestry sector (managed forests and HWP produced from these forests) . Based on life-cycle analysis,studies conducted in the last 10 years have concluded that substituting HWP with energyintensive materials can result in significant emission reductions. To accurately assess net GHG effects of the forestry sector, it is essential to integrate forest carbon dynamics with life-cycle analysis of HWP carbon stocks /emissions. There are a few important issues that need to be addressed in the future: ① Collect more data and conduct data-based studies to better analyze climate change impacts on forest development and forest carbon stocks,and reduce analysis uncertainty. ② Develop,complete,and improve forest resources inventories,the basis for accurately assessing forest carbon stocks. ③ Develop strategies through sustainable forest management and the best use of wood biomass resources to maximize forestry sector's mitigation contribution within key emission reduction timeframes. ④ Collect and integrate HWP life-cycle data in a systematic way to improve the accuracy of HWP life-cycle analysis and wood substitution assessment. ⑤ Assesse global forestry sector's mitigation contribution by integrating forest management and HWP carbon stocks /emissions analysis at a global scale.