Julia Pongratz at the Bonn Geographical Society

In the evening lecture "Land Use - From Unintended Climate Effects to Its Role as a Climate Mitigation Measure", Julia Pongratz provided a quick overview of the 10,000-year history of human land use, how we are beginning to understand its massive impact on the climate system, and how we intend to use it deliberately as a climate protection measure.

Three-quarters of the ice-free land area is used for agriculture or forestry. Depending on the type of land use change and region, the overall effect can either warm or cool the climate. This is crucial because we no longer view the climatic consequences of land use changes as unavoidable side effects, but instead aim to use them strategically to mitigate climate change. In particular, land use plays an important role in meeting the 2-degree target. Currently, all CO₂ removal is taking place through land use change. This lecture illustrated the various roles of land use, considering both local and global climate effects, and highlighted the potential and risks of land use for mitigating climate change.