Julia Pongratz Highlights the Climate Role of Land Use in Bonn Lecture

At an evening lecture hosted by the Geographical Society of Bonn, Professor Julia Pongratz, Chair of Physical Geography and Land Use Systems at LMU Munich, explored the crucial role land use plays in the Earth system – and its growing significance in climate mitigation strategies.

In her talk titled “Land Use – From Unintended Climate Effects to a Tool for Climate Action”, Pongratz traced 10,000 years of human influence on landscapes. She illustrated how we are only now beginning to fully understand the scale of this influence on the climate system – and how we might harness it intentionally to limit global warming.

Currently, about 75% of the Earth’s ice-free land surface is used for agriculture or forestry. Land use change can contribute either to warming or cooling, depending on the type of intervention and regional context. Pongratz emphasized that these climatic effects are no longer mere side effects, but potential levers for achieving the Paris Agreement goals, including the crucial 2 °C limit.

A central theme of her lecture was the role of land use in carbon dioxide removal (CDR). At present, all CDR contributions rely on land-based approaches. Pongratz presented the opportunities and risks associated with various land use strategies, focusing on their combined local and global climate effects.

Her talk offered a compelling perspective on how land management can evolve from a passive contributor to climate change into a deliberate part of the solution.