The French government has announced plans for a sustainability law that will ensure all new public buildings are built from at least 50 per cent timber or other natural materials.
The measure will be implemented by 2022 and affect all public buildings financed by the French state, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"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 per cent of wood or bio-based materials,"  the country's minister for cities and housing Julien Denormandie told the French news agency.
Bio-based materials are made from matter derived from living organisms, with examples including hemp and straw. Like wood, they have a significantly lower embodied carbon footprint compared to other construction materials like concrete and steel.
"We made this commitment for the Olympic Games"
The proposal aligns with France's Sustainable City plan launched in 2009, and also president Emmanuel Macron's drive for the country to be carbon-neutral by 2050.
The comment by Denormandie to AFP was made following his seminar at the Living in the city of tomorrow event at UNESCO on February 5.

During the event, he explained that his decision to introduce the law encouraging the use of bio-based materials was informed by the construction of the 2024 Paris Olympics complex. Any building in the development that rises more than eight storeys wil...